Niall Moran: ‘We’re developing a generic, probably less skilful player’

When Niall Moran hurled for Limerick he thought about the game too much, crippling himself with so much pressure he never reached the heights he feels he should. He still thinks a lot about the game and fears Limerick and everyone else is producing identikit players who are not working enough on the skills of the game.

Niall Moran thinks a lot about things. You have no idea of the private, crippling anguish that caused him during his playing days but it’s a quality that makes him engaging company as well as one of the brightest young coaches on the Limerick and colleges scene in recent years.

We’re in a café around the corner from Ardscoil Rís where he teaches, and just down the road from the Gaelic Grounds that at the weekend hosts the opening game of a Munster championship like none the storied old competition has never known before.