John Kiely: 'There was some amount of bullshit spoken about our team'

Davy Fitzgerald also confirmed that Tadhg de Búrca will miss the rest of the season.

MUNSTER MADNESS: Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald, right, and Limerick manager John Kiely after the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 1 match between Waterford and Limerick at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

John Kiely took a swipe at “the softening-up exercise” aimed at his team in the build-up to this Munster championship.

As pundits lined up to predict a fourth consecutive All-Ireland title for Limerick, Kiely indicated some of that hype had displayed itself in the team’s edgy win over Waterford.

"Let's be honest about it, there was some amount of bullshit spoken about our team and the season ahead of this week and the week before. It’s a softening up exercise mentally from those outside of our camp. But we’re around a long time.

“We know that’s all folly and nonsense. Every day you go out you’re there to be beaten. We saw that again today. Couple of chances go left, right on you and you’re in that situation where you lose your game.

“Every day we go out we know that we can possibly be beaten. That’s just the way it is. So, I think that was a lot of nonsense. I think people might hopefully have a bit more reality about their perspective and their analysis about where things are going.

“Just maybe focus more on the fact that we’re playing Clare next weekend and we played them for nearly 100 minutes here last year and there wasn’t a puck of the ball between us. Same in Ennis last year.”

Calum Lyons, left, and Darragh Lyons of Waterford in action against Cian Lynch of Limerick during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 1 match between Waterford and Limerick at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Kiely admitted it was difficult for the expectation not to affect his players. “It’s not possible to insulate them from it at all, never mind fully. Because they live in the real world.

"They have to go to work every day. They have to meet their relations. They have phones with information on it so you can’t block them off or hunt them away somewhere.”

Kiely didn’t see the incident that led to Gearóid Hegarty’s second yellow card nor a Waterford backroom team official reacting to Hegarty following it. However, Davy Fitzgerald played down Hegarty’s aggression.

“Lads, this is Munster championship. We’re not here to go out and say hello to one another. If there are things that have to be dealt with, that’s it.”

Fitzgerald was not interested in claiming a moral victory. “We don’t want any claps on the back today, because – I said it to them inside – there is no point in clapping us on the back for losing to Limerick by two points. We came here to win today and we didn’t win.

“Now, we are behind the eight ball because we have to play a fresh Cork team next week. We are going to be behind the eight ball. I feel we should have got something out of that game today.” 

 Regarding Tadhg de Búrca’s ankle injury, Fitzgerald was gutted. “I am absolutely gutted. I’d say he is gone for the rest of the season. It looks like his Achilles is gone and if I could tell you lads, Tadhg de Búrca, last September, went on a rehab programme for four to five months.

"Last September, October, November, December and into January, if you see the work that he did to get himself right, I am absolutely just sick for him.” The nature of Declan Hannon’s injury was unknown.