Dan Morrissey: ‘To have Tom with me, it is a special occasion for the family and Ahane’

Limerick's Munster title victory was satisfying for Morrissey on the double, having struggled with injuries during the league

Dan Morrissey during a Limerick senior hurling press conference at LIT Gaelic Grounds. Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile

As befits a full-back, Dan Morrissey has given some thought to the new hurling rules awarding penalties to forwards bearing down on goal.

Not too much thought, though, says the Limerick man “I suppose it’s not playing on your mind too much, but maybe if you are caught one on one inside, it might be in the back of your mind.

“We all saw the bit of controversy in that Tipp and Clare game so it is something if you’re playing in the full-back line that you do have to have at the back of your mind.”

Morrissey has had to give more consideration to his switch from wing- to full-back: “At half-back you have a lot more freedom to get forward, whereas full-back you have to mind the house a bit more.

“Saying that, there’s a good bit of overlap between the two positions as well, there’s a bit of high ball fielding in both positions, you still have to be able to win your own ball, so there’s some commonalities between the positions.”

Morrissey saw the first half-hour of the Munster final from the stands before entering the fray for his side’s stirring comeback: “Tipp were obviously flying it, they came out all guns blazing. It was a warm day and Tipp took their scores very well, the two goals were finished off brilliantly, so I suppose coming in I didn’t have much time to think about coming in.

“I was told to warm up and I was in straight away so getting five minutes before half-time is often nice to ease yourself into the game. At half-time we always did have belief, I know not many other people outside of the team might have thought we’d come back but as a team we do have great belief there.

“We said we’d go out and win quarter three first and that’s exactly what we kind of did. We came out in that first quarter after half-time and obviously played very, very well.

“Hurling can change so quickly that seven or eight points is nothing in hurling so we believed that if we got back to doing what we do best that we’d get back in the game quickly.”

It was satisfying for Morrissey on the double, having struggled with injuries during the league.

“The strength of the squad which we have there at the minute, once someone gets in and plays well they keep the jersey and that’s the way it is.

“So getting in there and doing alright in the Munster final was obviously very pleasing from a personal point of view.

“But back to the depth of the panel, we’ve such a strong panel that our motto is always ‘next man up’ whether someone is injured or whatever the case is, there’s someone there to take the jersey and fill in. We always have great faith in whoever it is from number 1 to 35, no matter who takes the jersey.” Well, he mentioned having faith in the number one . ..

“Ah yeah, Nickie (Quaid) is a super goalie. He has been for the last nine or ten years.

“He’s just so calm behind you, he communicates so well so there’s never any issues and you can always rely on him to be there, he’s just Mr Consistency really and it was a seamless transition going back full-back playing in front of him.” Winning All-Irelands with younger brother Tom further up the field is another highlight.

“It is and we probably won’t sit back and realise what we’ve won until the day we retire, whenever that is, when you sit back and appreciate the medals that you won.

“I suppose growing up I would have always went to All-Ireland finals and it would have been rare enough that Limerick were in them so when we’re in our third final now in four years, it is a bit surreal.

“Especially to have Tom with me and it is a special occasion for the family and for Ahane, our club, as well so it’s great. We would have played an awful lot out the back (when younger). Tom has a twin brother (Patrick) as well so it kind of would have been the three of us that would have played, the two of them against me in small-sided games out the back so I taught him everything he needs to know about hurling.

“But it’s great to be playing with the brother.” Morrissey is particularly happy supporters have been allowed back to games this year.

“That feeling in the dressing room after the (2020) final was just unreal, we didn’t have the celebrations that we would have had in 2018 for obvious reasons but it is great to see supporters back.

“I remember watching the Euros there a few months back in the the soccer and seeing the crowds at those games makes you jealous of those countries and saying you want that back as well.

“So even the last day, seeing the crowd back, and there’ll be more again at the final, it really does add to the atmosphere.

“Below in Páirc Uí Chaoimh at the Munster final, it was only six or seven thousand but it felt two or three times that amount so look it s great to get the crowd back and it really does make the occasion that bit more special.”