Limerick's Seamus Flanagan looks to continue stunning Croke Park record

SEAMUS Flanagan will come back into contention for a place in Limerick's starting XV to face Cork in Sunday's All-Ireland SHC semi-final clash at Croke Park.

Manager John Kiely has a big decision to make in selecting his starting line-up as after Shane O'Brien impressed in the Munster final.

2021 All-Star Seamus Flanagan was in superb form for Limerick against Cork in round three of the Munster SHC at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in May where he registered an excellent 3-3 from play.

However, the Castlemahon-Fohenagh clubman limped off with a hamstring injury against Waterford in the final round fixture of the Munster series which also saw him miss the Munster final win over Clare.

“It probably couldn’t have come at a worst time for me to be honest. Those are the cards that are dealt, but I suppose it’s about getting myself back up to speed again. Someone’s obviously taken that jersey in Shane and did a really good job. It’s up to me to put my best foot forward again,” Flanagan said at the All-Ireland senior hurling championship launch.

The Limerick attacker saw the lonely side of things when he missed the Munster final.

“I’ve seen it myself, it's a lonely place, when you are there and there’s boys out training. It was actually myself and Peter (Casey) that were the only two on the sideline. Peter was back doing a little bit of rehab and he’s off the crutches and he’s walking without the boot and stuff, cautiously now but slowly getting back to his feet.

“It’s a lonely place to be when there’s no-one else around and you’ve 30-odd boys out training and you’re the only one sitting on the sideline. It’s a lonely place, I won’t lie. Year on year, there is always someone that bows out with an injury as John said it’s next man up.”

Limerick and Cork played out a thriller in Pairc Ui Chaoimh in round three of the Munster SHC and it was special night for Flanagan. It was his first ever time scoring three goals in a hurling match.

“Never in my life (did I score three goals before), I wouldn’t be notorious goalscorer so it was a lucky day for me. It was a strange one to be honest.

“Obviously there's a little bit of personal celebration. The way things panned out it didn’t really matter at the time but when you’re going down there you’re going down there to win.

“It was a cracker of a game, what a game to be involved in down in Cork! I wish there was more Saturday evening games because the atmosphere below there was off the charts. It was unreal!”

The atmosphere in Cork that night was something special for all the players involved.“When Hoggie (Patrick Horgan) got that penalty at the end, you can’t hear yourself think! The crowd was just immense. There’s something special about those Munster games. Saturday evening, 7 o’clock throw-in in Cork there really is something special about it. You can embrace it.”

Limerick's record in Croke Park has been phenomenal, with the Shannonsiders winning five All-Irelands in six years at GAA HQ. Kiely's side were last beaten by Kilkenny in the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final at the venue. This team have been breathtaking once they arrived in Croke Park. So what changes?

“I suppose your mindset changes because you know it’s knockout. You lose in Croke Park, you’re out. In Munster it’s round-robin, not there is scope to lose a game, there’s a little bit of leeway, but once hit the four lines in Croke Park it’s do-or-die. The attitude has to change and that mindset has to flip to counteract that.

“Anytime you go to Croke it’s for a semi-final or final they’re big games in themselves so you have to have that mindset shift when you do get to Croke Park.

“It’s a wider pitch number one than anywhere else. I think it’s the same width as Cusack Park. The sound that’s there is unbelievable when you go to Croke Park, you do have that little bit more room and the noise levels are a little bit louder.
“Any kid that’s worth his salt would love to be out in Croke Park. When you do get there you just tend to try turn it on, you get to the pitch of it fairly quickly or else it’s only going one way.”

Amazingly Flanagan has never lost a game in Croke Park during his senior hurling inter-county career.

“Bar underage, I lost to Kilkenny in a minor final. In my senior ranks, I don’t think I’ve lost in Croke Park which is a good stat to have, I suppose.”

After an intense Munster Championship campaign, the four in-a-row All-Ireland champions welcomed the four-week break until the All-Ireland semi-final.

“Boys with injuries and myself I suppose, getting myself right and you know you’ve a little bit of downtime but you can start slowly ramping it up again.

“There’s a blueprint there for us for the last couple of years of what we can do. Paul (Kinnerk) and John (Kiely) are always tweaking what went well last year and what we change this year. It’s a constant work in progress really but you have that little bit of time to get yourself right into the pitch of it. I suppose to see what opposition are bringing to it as well and what opposition are coming down the line as well.”

In Limerick's final game of the round-robin series against Waterford in the Munster SHC, they hit ten wides in the opening quarter.

Manager Kiely referenced that the reward is greater than the risk of shooting. The Treaty County have very much taken the shoot on sight policy throughout this year's championship.

“I had three wides myself. One of three was the wrong option and the other two were the right option just the execution levels weren’t there. I think it was one that Cathal O’Neill might have hit as well that was probably the wrong option, but everything else other than that it was execution.

“That can be worked on, you can work on your shooting, where you're hitting from but I think that’s all down to execution. The shot selection was right but the execution was wrong and that's something in training that we've picked up on.

“If you've the backing of John and Paul of what you did was right, you're going to go out there and practice that 10, 12 or 13 times to make sure that next time that opportunity pops up, you're going to take it. He backs us all the time. Game management from each of the lads is top notch. I don't think there's a selfish player in the team. They know that the team comes first, if there's a pass on and they don't give it, they get told. If the shot is on and it goes wide it's just an execution error.”

Limerick created history winning six Munster titles in a row and the reigning All-Ireland champions can create more history later this year by becoming the first team to win five Liam MacCarthy Cups in-a-row. This is something that has been discussed between the players and the management, according to the Limerick sharpshooter.

“At the start of the year, it's the elephant in the room. And you can bury your head in the sand and you can say that we are not going to speak about. You're going to hear it and then boys are talking about it amongst each other.

“It's there but it's not the defining factor for us. It's not something that we are looking at and say, ‘God we can make history’.
“It's there, it's in front of you. It's something that the media and the fans are going to get hyped about and push themselves, but for us it's really just about a process. get yourself to a higher level.

“It's about what we did in the last game, how we can better ourselves for the next game, what we did well, what we didn't do well and I suppose pushing from there and looking for the incremental improvements from each game.”