Richie McCarthy: New mindset the secret to new Limerick

By Paul Keane

Experienced Limerick defender Richie McCarthy has revealed how an inspirational team-talk from Shane Dowling gave them the belief to dethrone All-Ireland holders Galway.

McCarthy was the first substitute to be introduced by Limerick in Sunday’s final win as the underdogs roared nine points clear of the holders at one stage during the second-half.

“Shane Dowling spoke during the week leading up and said, ‘Why can’t we win the game by six or seven points, why do we always have to be chasing the game?’” said McCarthy.

He said, ‘Go out and f***ing win it, play with a bit of abandon, we’re well capable of it’. He’s right, that’s the culture we should have in Limerick, why do we always have to be chasing other teams? Why can’t we take to the front foot and win games by six or seven points?

“And we were kind of cruising to victory but it was our own fault maybe that with five or 10 minutes to go we kind of had the thought in our head, ‘Is this real?’ And Galway then kind of started building the scores but we held on.”

Kyle Hayes, man-of-the-match for Limerick in the final, is just 20 and part of a young group of players that have time on their side to become multiple All-Ireland winners.

“They’re just so used to winning,” McCarthy said of a group that contains All-Ireland U-21 medal winners from 2015 and 2017 and minor finalists from 2016.

Even against Galway, we expected to win whereas in years gone by, if we won a big game, it was kind of like a relief. But these lads are just so used to it. In the past, we’d maybe celebrate for too long as well but these guys are different and we’re living off them really, they’re the heroes.

The Blackrock club man, a relative of 1930s Limerick great Tommy McCarthy, smiled at the suggestion that he might get a similar plaque to the one unveiled for Tommy in 2011.

“At this stage, surely!” smiled McCarthy, who revealed how he used visualisation in the run up to the showpiece.

“In the buildup to the game, even when you’re sleeping during the week, I always had the image in my head of running around Croke Park with that trophy in our hands and I wanted to go up to Hill 16 and go absolutely nuts with it, which I did.

Visualisation is not used enough in the GAA, all week I had it in my head. I didn’t want to be thinking too far ahead either because if you’re thinking of future things, you’re lost but all week I was thinking like that, whether I came on or not.

McCarthy praised the role of sponsor JP McManus who celebrated with the Limerick players in the dressing-room after the landmark win.

“He only said a few words but he had the room,” said McCarthy. “He’s been an unbelievable servant to Limerick. He was just delighted for us really, for the management and the team. He just kept it simple and held up the cup.

“Everyone just wanted to shake his hand really in the dressing-room. We basically wanted to throw him up in the air but we just shook his hand.”

Yet it all could have ended so differently if Joe Canning’s late, late free had flown over the bar or, worse still, been doubled upon by a Galway hurl to the net.

“Being honest, as a player you do look up at the clock and you’re thinking, ‘Please time, come on, come on, be on our side’,” admitted McCarthy.

“When we saw eight minutes, that’s an eternity. Declan Hannon cleared one ball, I thought time was nearly up but it was still only 74 minutes and Galway were eking their way back into it. They took their points, got their goal at a vital stage, got their second goal and thankfully Graeme Mulcahy got a great score to put us two points ahead which was vital.”