Limerick v Galway: Tom Morrissey learning to live with and love the finisher job

FROM THE SHADOWS: Tom Morrissey of Limerick at Woodlands House, Adare. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Nine points off the bench in five championship games suggests Tom Morrissey is getting the hang of the substitute’s role.

There’s no cribbing from the three-time All-Star. It’s something he has been asked to do and he is doing it.

“I've been happy with the impact I've had when I've come on the pitch in most of the games this year,” says the 30-year-old. “I'm still learning how to best prepare for those 30, 40 minutes when the game is going on before I'm introduced.” 

Except for the round game against Clare in Ennis, Morrissey has been held in reserve at the outset. “I've chatted to a few guys that are in the same position as me. Sometimes you feel like you're a fan up there in the dugout. You're watching in and you're getting involved like the fans would get involved and you're roaring and you're shouting.

“Maybe that's not a bad thing either. It gets the adrenaline going because you're not out on the pitch and you need to have that adrenaline going in. At the same time, you're trying to balance it. You're trying to observe what's actually happening out on the pitch and you're trying to not have all your energy used up from roaring and shouting and being too emotionally invested in the game. You want to make sure that you're actually going to have a positive impact when you come in.” 

If there is a silver lining to be a substitute, it’s being on the field at the finish. In Limerick’s last three All-Ireland finals, Morrissey was replaced before the end having expended himself.

“I know personally I love those moments coming down to the end of a game, the last 10-15 minutes when every possession is that bit more valuable and every score is that bit more valuable. That's what you play for, those heightened pressure moments and you want to excel in those moments too. I know we feel comfortable in those situations as a team and I think that's what helped us in the semi-final (v Clare).” 

Another comfort is Limerick’s almost impeccable final record under John Kiely, last year’s Munster final penalty shoot-out loss to Cork being their other defeat in 19 finals.

“That would give you confidence that we have been there and done that., through league finals, Munster finals, All-Ireland finals,” accepts Morrissey. “But at the same time, it does not guarantee you anything come All-Ireland final day. There is going to be a lot that we will have to do. Galway are a good team. We are going to need to prepare. What we have done in the past counts for nothing.” 

Focus

After a 2025 season without anything to show for and losing an All-Ireland semi-final in ’24, the significance of this final is not lost on the Ahane man. “You realise how difficult it is to get to finals again. You probably get an appreciation of that and the hard work that goes into it all year round to make sure you get to this point in the season and that you are one of the last two teams remaining.

“You have to remain focused that there is still one more performance, that there's still two weeks of work left to do and you try and stay focused on that.” Eight years ago, 22-year-old Morrissey declared Limerick weren’t “burdened by past lives” after winning that year’s All-Ireland semi-final. What they have achieved since has certainly proved that.

“Growing up, I'd never seen Limerick win an All-Ireland,” he says of that historic 2018 win. “To be honest, we were in the ’96 final and I was only born that year. I'd only seen them in 2007 in an All-Ireland final. You're probably growing up where you know you're a competitive hurling county, but you haven't won it.

“That was maybe the psyche in Limerick at the time. We were always the bridesmaid maybe. So, to actually do it, it's just realising your dreams really at that stage. That was all.

“To get one at that stage with Limerick would have been a successful career nearly in its own right. The feeling was absolutely unbelievable. Once you get one, you want it again. I think keeping that hunger has been something this team has been good at doing.” 

Limerick’s shooting accuracy has not been what it should be this championship but fear of missing is not something that is likely to arrest them.

“You have to stay shooting,” insists Morrissey. “There's no point not. If the shot's there, you have to back yourself that you're going to be able to take it.

“It's fluctuated maybe a small bit for us throughout the season, so it's definitely a work-on going into the final. We're not going to be too disheartened by it.”