Success can crack Limerick’s city limits

Change? It’s how you define it. Limerick’s net casts wider than ever before as proven by the presence of Kildimo-Pallaskenry’s Kyle Hayes and Feoghanagh-Castlemahon’s Seamus Flanagan in last year’s All-Ireland final team.

The city remains a little sleepy, though. But for Na Piarsaigh’s elongated exploits last year, it may have been different but there were only two players from city clubs — Mike Casey (Na Piarsaigh) and Gearóid Hegarty (St Patrick's) — in John Kiely’s 15 for the final.

That number had swollen to four by the final whistle and weren’t there five city men who started against Kilkenny the previous summer but it’s a work in progress.

Twenty-five years ago, Claughaun’s Mike Galligan was one of three city players to start in that year’s handsome Munster final win over Clare, Hegarty’s father Ger and Na Piarsaigh’s Damien Quigley. The urban penetration into the senior team might not have changed significantly but former wing-forward Galligan sees green shoots.

“The team winning the All-Ireland having been so long without one, it’s bound to have a knock-on effect. There’s still a gap in the inner city. There are clubs like Claughaun and Old Christians and St Patrick’s that are still struggling but the win back in August has made people really want to go hurling or get back hurling if they have given it up.

You’re going to see more (city) kids being brought through the academies. For the few that make it to the academies, the Limerick team are role models. If you get into the academy and start working hard the rewards are there. Last year proved that as all of that team would have come through the academies the whole way.

Hegarty is the poster boy in that regard having been picked up and fostered despite his club being at a low level.

“I was involved in coaching Gearóid’s age group and especially coming from a junior club they wouldn’t have had the numbers really but for him to come through has been fantastic. That’s down to the strength of the academies and the work that is being done once you get the young fellas in there.”

Galligan can say for certain that there is no discrimination when it comes to the academies. If there is potential it is embraced.

“Everybody now gets a fair run irrespective of whether you’re a city player or a county player. I think Na Piarsaigh have brought it to a new level within the city. If you look at the panel there, Na Piarsaigh have been producing players regularly from a city environment whereas traditionally there was no hurling in Na Piarsaigh going back and little or no hurling played in Ard Scoil Rís. That’s testament to the work being done in those areas by the schools and the clubs.

“I know the U14 trials were on recently and every club in the county got a fair run. Whether you were a junior club in the city or a junior club in the west, every club had a fair run in extensive trials. If they saw anything in any individual they would be given second and third chances to perform.

“The strength of the academy is down to develop players to the standards of inter-county hurling and the current team have set the bar now that this is the way you need to conduct yourself, prepare yourself and mind yourself. That was the whole goal of the initiative.”

It’s the success of the academies that will propel Limerick, says Galligan. “You can’t rest on your laurels, you have to step up again while keeping doing what you’re doing and keep producing the hurlers. Because while we have an exceptional bunch of hurlers there now, and more to come on, you have to keep the conveyor belt going. Everybody wants to be associated with the senior hurling team but it’s really the unsung heroes whose work in the underage set-up that are bringing through these young players.”

Galligan can’t go without complimenting Kiely, though, for sustaining the hunger after success.

John is doing a fantastic job and bringing in new players all the time. We went to Nowlan Park and we hadn’t won there since the league semi-final since 1997 and he was without his full-back, centre-back, midfielders, centre-forward and full-forward.

"He’s using the league the way it should be used when it is formatted as it is and there is no relegation. It does afford you the opportunity to try players and to come away from Kilkenny with the win will give them massive confidence.”

“The Cork game was a slip-up, Cork had their homework done and stopped Limerick’s running game but that result in Kilkenny was huge. I’m sure a lot of those Limerick players wouldn’t mind adding a league medal to their All-Ireland medal.”