Mike Casey praised for 'tremendous resilience' as Limerick star returns after two years out

JOHN Kiely has praised the "tremendous resilience, determination and commitment" of Mike Casey to battle back to full fitness after two years out injured.

The Na Piarsaigh man played full back in Sunday's Allianz Hurling League win over Offaly - his first outing for Limerick since a league tie with Waterford on March 7, 2020.

Casey was afforded a standing ovation by the Limerick supporters in the Mackey Stand when replaced after 59-minutes of Sunday's 24-point victory. 

"Well deserved," said the Limerick manager of Casey's ovation.

"When you are out for a long-term injury like that with repeated setbacks it can be very difficult and it takes tremendous resilience, determination and commitment and he has shown that in spades and he deserved every bit of that acknowledgement for his efforts," said Kiely.

"What goes on behind the scenes to rehab yourself to that level - when you see the shape he is in, top class condition. He’s back and able to make a substantial contribution and it’s a huge boost to our group - a massive boost that gives us loads of different options now."

The 2018 All-Ireland winning full back, had worn the No3 jersey in four of Limerick's five 2020 Allianz League games when Covid-19 restrictions shutdown the GAA season.

Then on October 11 2020, Casey suffered a cruciate ligament injury in a challenge game between Limerick and Galway ahead of the inter-county championship resumption. One month later he underwent a cruciate ligament operation on his right knee in the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry. In the Summer of 2021, Casey was back in full training with Limerick and but that July he suffered a setback in a comeback game with his club. He again battled back to fitness but last Autumn he suffered another setback in his knee rehab and in December underwent another a third operation in the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry. 

Elsewhere, the game saw Graeme Mulcahy make his first start of 2022 with Limerick.

"Graeme is coming back to us after being with his club right throughout the winner and we gave him a month off after that to give him a chance to freshen up a bit and you could see the effects of that because he is fresh - he has got a bit of work to do yet himself but he knows that but at the same time he has got the hunger, appetite and will," said Kiely.

Captain Declan Hannon received a first half knock but Kiely expects nothing long-term for his centre back.

"That’s his second bang. He got another one in the Cork game, which was probably a nastier one - today’s one wasn’t so bad. He is fine - we just took him off to do a bit of an assessment to make sure he was ok. It’s something we are very cognisant of because as the people along the line we are responsible for looking after the players and I would always error on the side of caution because make sure that if we make a mistake it’s not one that you can recover from. There is a huge onus of responsibility on us to get that right," explained Kiely.

Kyle Hayes and William O'Donoghue both missed the win over Offaly.

"Kyle will be resuming full training on Tuesday night and is fully recovered," said Kiely.

"William has taken a small bit of a knock to his heel but it’s nothing too major. All told we are in good shape."