TJ Ryan: 'They had a minute's silence for Limerick hurling. We have to take it all on the chin'

The former Limerick boss expects Kiely and Kinnerk to perform a little surgery and come back for more success.

HAPPIER TIMES: TJ Ryan poses with a Limerick supporter ahead of the 2022 All-Ireland final with Kilkenny. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

TJ Ryan summed up Limerick hurling's aftershock in his inimitable, self-effacing way. 

"We've had a brilliant time. Up to 2018, we were kind of used to this. As someone reminded me coming out of Croke Park, 'Jesus, Limerick haven't been that bad since you were in charge'."

Trademark modesty - Ryan's first season as Limerick boss brought the county to an All-Ireland semi-final with Kilkenny they were unfortunate to lose. 

But since his successor John Kiely's second year in charge, their hurling followers have known little but glory. Even last year's disappointment brought semi-final involvement. Not this season, after Dublin's stunning victory on Saturday.

Speaking on Dalo's Hurling Show Monday, Ryan was braced to take all the slagging on the chin. 

"I heard they had a minute's silence for Limerick hurling in a pub across the border from us in Tipp. But we'd be the same ourselves if it went the other way, so we have to take it now.  

"It's different not being involved in an All-Ireland semi-final. But in all walks, there's a changing of the guard. I'm not saying that some of these players will need to be changed. It's just for whatever reason, maybe we've an awful lot of the same players playing an awful lot of the same positions for a long period of time.

"And there might be a little bit of surgery required in some parts of the team and some new energy required.

"I think our 2025 record will show we won two league games and we won two championship games, when you look at the bigger picture.

"Against Cork for some reason, Cork were off that day and Limerick looked awesome and looked like they were at the peak of their powers. 

"Did that mask maybe the overall season? There were bits of the league, down against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park, we looked very ordinary at times. I know we wouldn't have had a full team out. Even the last round against Wexford. Against Clare in the Championship. I know we had a good few changes, but you still would have expected better."

Limerick manager John Kiely during the defeat by Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

TJ wasn't citing staleness, having liked the look of how John Kiely and Paul Kinnerk were remodelling the machine while in transit. 

"I thought a new-look Limerick team with Kyle (Hayes) at six and Cian (Lynch) at 11 and Shane O'Brien (at 14) was going in the right direction. I liked Barry Nash going to wing back. it's easy to give out and say you should have done this and this with hindsight, but I thought they were heading in the right direction.

"I thought we could have won the Munster final in extra time. If you win that, you'll be sitting in the semi-final.

"To be fair to John and Paul, with some of the options they had, they stuck by the guys who had been very good to them and soldiered hard for them and they would have been right to do that.

"I just think it'll be time for reflection from them now. They've signed up for two years, so I'm sure that they'll be there again in 2026. They'll have a look at it over the next couple of months and see where they go from here."

Hurling, TJ accepts, is a beneficiary of Saturday's shock. As might his pocket if a long odds fancy for the Dubs early in the year comes in. 

"At the start of the year, this wouldn't have been a major surprise to me, but what was a surprise to me was the poorness of Dublin's form in some parts of the Leinster Championship. Against Galway,  you couldn't give them a chance on that performance, but they resurrected something.

"It's going to give other teams a shot across their bow to say, you know what, we need to go away and we need to stop whinging and giving out about structures or giving out about other people. We need to fix our own house, get ourselves ready and go and try and win these matches.

"I think that's probably what it's done for the hurling championship."