Limerick still 'long way from the top'
Again, last Sunday, the Limerick faithful came in their thousands to the Gaelic Grounds, with great expectations for the new season. And again, they left in disappointment.
Dejected, they had just seen their side squander a four point lead, in injury time, to escape with a draw from Tipperary - in the first round of the NHL. It wasn't just the fans who were disappointed.
"In the dressing-room after the match, it was like we'd lost a championship game," admitted coach Ger Cunningham.
"There were those who didn't perform ... and they were very hard on themselves afterwards.
"It was like a morgue, so we tried to lift them."
Like a morgue? Mid-February? After a draw with Tipperary? A bit early for all that, isn't it? Ger couldn't agree more.
"There are two reasons for [the players' disappointment]. Their own expectations are a bit higher now, plus all the hype that was building around the county on the strength of us winning the Waterford Crystal.
And its not just their own expectations that are a burden to the players.
"We've been down so long, but we still have the best bunch of supporters in the country. Whether we're going well, or going poorly, they've always been behind us.
"Now we're starting to come out of the doldrums, but I think they're expecting us to come out too fast.
"I've made a statement in the local paper urging the Limerick public to step back a bit because they were putting an awful lot of pressure on the players. From where we've come, yes, it's a huge improvement, but we're still a long way from the top."
Cunningham says Limerick are not going, gung-ho, for the League.
"We're building towards the 14th of May and the Championship.
"We need people to understand that. We don't need them be hammering the players because they didn't win a League match on the 19th of February. We're building towards the championship, not the National League."
Whatever about the fans, the biggest challenge facing Joe McKenna's management team is to strengthen the team's fragile psyche. Would Cork's dressing-room have been morgue-like in similar circumstances? Not a chance, Ger Cunningham agrees.
"This is a very talented bunch of players, who just don't believe in their own ability, which is affecting them in close games.
"The Waterford Crystal tournament was a huge plus for us ... because of the teams we beat along the way, the big Munster teams. That was the aim, to get the lads used to winning games. But they're still making mistakes at vital times, and it's costly.
"It's going to take a while to break that habit."
A major blow to Limerick last Sunday, especially in the final minutes, when Tipperary substitute John Carroll ran rampant, was the lack of outstanding wing-back Peter Lawlor.
"Of course," agrees Ger, "anyone of Peter Lawlor's calibre is going to be missed, by any team ... But we can't live in the past, Peter has made a decision, we have to respect it."
"The bar has been raised in Limerick training, it's a lot harder, much more professional. Some of the players were in trouble adjusting to it, Peter was one of those; he said that himself ... We respect him for that, he could have kept going, called in with excuses, but he was honest with us.
"It's unfair to the other players to keep talking about it now. Denis Moloney has gone in, a 20-yr-old, and he's doing a brilliant job and we're delighted."
Against that disappointment, there is the return to the fold of dual players such as Mike O'Brien, Stephen Lucey, Conor Fitzgerald, and the unexpected return from injury of full-forward Brian Begley.
"Mike did very well for us last week, his workrate was fantastic," said Ger.
"Brian has shocked us all," he added, "We said we'd see if we could get 20 minutes a game [from him] this year, and work on getting him right for next year. I think he took that as a personal challenge, and he's proved us wrong. He's ... comfortable playing 30 minutes, possibly more."
"He's been an inspiration to all the lads since his return to the dressing-room.
"He talks to the lads in training, the younger fellas, trains exceptionally hard; he knows there's a realistic chance now he can be part of this year's championship, rather than next year's.
"I take my hat off to him, he took the challenge head-on."
Tomorrow, in what will probably be the game of the day, Limerick face Galway in Salthill.
Galway, coming off an even bigger disappointment than Limerick, in the form of their humiliating defeat last week to Antrim, are out for redemption.
Throw in the fact that Galway ended Limerick's championship last season, in yet another close game that the Shannonsiders should have won, and, well, league or not, there's more than a hint of pressure.
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