O’Grady: We must control hype, but seize the moment
The Treaty captain isn’t forecasting a Limerick victory on Sunday, such an assertion he wouldn’t dream of making when the opposition’s stripes are of black and amber. No, the centre-forward is simply promising a performance from the men in green. The stage fright encountered in 2013 has long been flushed from the system.
Midfield during the county’s run to the 2007 All-Ireland final, O’Grady couldn’t have envisaged that seven years on Limerick would still be waiting for a return to the showpiece event.
At 34 years young, opportunities like Sunday must be grabbed with both hands. The Granagh/Ballingarry man has been keen to impress as much at training this week.
“You look around the squad when we get together at the end of training, looking at fellas to make sure everybody realises the importance of it and what it means,” he said.
“It’s hard to get to a semi-final – there are a few hurdles before you get to within shooting distance.
“From the players’ point of view, we’re hoping that we’ve learned a lesson from last year, and learned from the experience in Croke Park. We were coming on the back of winning the Munster championship, with a great confidence and buzz and we really believed that we could get to the All-Ireland final. In the space of 75 minutes that was all wiped away. We went from the highs of playing in Croke Park, in with a chance of getting to the final, to the lows of opportunity lost.
“It’s good that we’re coming in with a good performance under our belts and are playing so soon after Wexford. The important thing is that we have learned from last year and don’t get caught up in all of that [hype].
“The hype isn’t as strong playing Kilkenny, and that’s testament to them. The general feeling among the Limerick supporters is, fair enough ye’re in the All-Ireland semi-final but a lot of people would say, ‘ah ye’ll give it a go, ye’ll give it a rattle, ye’ll make a game of it but ye won’t beat them’.”
Surely such an attitude is being harnessed as motivation?
“Of course but we’re realistic too. We know that if we’re to beat Kilkenny, we need to play on top of our game. We’ll need that extra percentage that we didn’t bring to the table in the Munster final and we’ll need a much better performance than Wexford. There’s a lot of ifs there but what we do have is the manpower and the players to do it.”
O’Grady, a late withdrawal from the Limerick team to play Wexford with a tear in his lower calf, was hugely impressed by the efforts of his forward colleagues last time out. A spread of eight scorers saw the burden eased from the young shoulders of Shane Dowling.
“It’s awful pressure to be putting on a player to depend on him to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Forwards should be on the scoresheet as well as getting in the hooks and blocks. But the scoring ratio has been high – 2-18 against Tipp, 0-24 against Cork and 4-26 the last day. It’s good scoring. Obviously Kilkenny bring a whole new element in the sense that I don’t think we’ll have the same space. We’ll have to work harder than them and the main thing for us is to try not to concede goals.
“The last time I played Kilkenny in Croke Park [2007], we had two goals conceded in the first ten minutes, two sucker punches. We can’t let Kilkenny get a foothold like that in the game.”
He added: “I had a slight tear in my lower calf. Even though it felt good the day of the match [against Wexford], it was very risky and too soon after it happened to take a chance. I might not have lasted five minutes. Reluctantly, I had to tell myself that it didn’t feel 100%. Fortunately a lot of work by the physio and a lot myself at home, icing and that kind of thing seems to have done the job. A bit of rest too and management gave me plenty of time.”
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