Limerick take long-term view

FOR reasons best known to themselves, many (even within the county) are writing off Limerick, in the Munster SHC semi-final against holders Cork at Páirc na nGael on Sunday.

Such an attitude doesn't make much sense: Cork scraped home by just two points when the sides met in the opening round of this season's NHL while both have enjoyed a victory over their last two championship encounters.

Nevertheless, current Limerick selector Joe McKenna can understand the local pessimism.

"I suppose the way the League went, they're entitled to. We only just about qualified for the top six."

But Waterford, emphatic winners over Clare in the Munster championship, also only barely qualified for the top six: a different case, according to McKenna.

"They've been around now for five or six years. They are a very experienced bunch of players, most of them are already winners of the Munster championship," he points out.

"We're trying to come from U21 success to senior, and that's much more difficult, but the 30 we have now on the panel have trained very hard. They'll give a good account of themselves against Cork, but it's hard to see us winning that game, to be honest."

Could be a wily old campaigner just blowing smoke? Yet even as he reels off the cracks in the Cork machine since last year's Munster success, there is no doubting his respect for the Rebels.

"Definitely Setanta is a huge loss. He was very good for them last year and I felt he was going to be even better again this year. Alan Browne is also a big loss. He was always good for a goal in a big game. Pat Mulcahy is another who will be missed.

"But Cork got through Munster last year, never an easy task, could have won the All-Ireland. I won't say should have, but certainly could have.

"They have that experience behind them this year they'll be looking to go the whole way. It will be a difficult match for us, no doubt about it.

"We'd have preferred a warm-up game, a preliminary round match to ease into it, but you don't get that in Munster. We just have to see how it goes. Our supporters need a good performance, and we hope to give them that at least, but the win would be a bonus."

In just his first year as a selector with the hurlers, the former six-times Allstar can only look with envy at his footballing counterparts on Shannonside.

"Yeah, the footballers are going very well, but they've been together now for about five years, coming all the time and getting better every year.

"This year, even though they mightn't have looked as good as they can against Tipperary in the [Munster championship} first round, they have Waterford in the semi-final, and should win that to get to the final.

"They have a very strong panel, but that's the result of five years build-up.

"We've only been together for 18 weeks, that's less than five months, a very short length of time. We have to be realistic, what we're hoping for is a reasonable run in the championship. If we lose on Sunday it's not the end of the world, there's the backdoor system. Either way, our aim is to play hurling for as long as we can this summer and give us something to build on for next year."

And what of the squad after all the turmoil of new management and the dual-player row?

"The camp couldn't be better. They are a great bunch of fellas to train, we've never had any problems. I would be hoping after all that effort, even if they don't win, that they would do themselves justice against Cork, and get some respect back to Limerick hurling."

"My aim would be to build something in the next two years to allow Limerick to win an All-Ireland inside five. That's the long-term objective.

"We've always tried to do things too quickly here and end up doing nothing. Build it stone by stone, brick by brick, and hopefully inside five years we'll win an All-Ireland."