Centre-back, centre-stage — a far cry from 2008

Centre-back Wayne McNamara is one of the most experienced players on the Limerick team to face Clare in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final in Croke Park tomorrow, a panel member since 2007. That year, managed by Richie Bennis, Limerick reached the final but were overwhelmed by a whirlwind Kilkenny start and left to save face – which they did – in the following 60 minutes.

It should have preceded better times for Limerick, a team with a very good age-profile, but it didn’t. For the next three years the team went downhill, one year worse than the next until eventually came the major fallout – a player strike. Hard times recalled by Wayne.

“I was called into the squad after Joe McKenna resigned back in 2006. Richie asked me to come in and make up the numbers for training. ‘It’s not a trial’ he said; ‘No problem,’ says I, ‘I’ll come in’. And in I came, a Tuesday and then a Thursday. After the Thursday night he added me to the panel. A good day that day, then 2007, the first year on the panel was an incredible year.”