Limerick need to rediscover best form to have a chance at winning Munster and All-Ireland

The Irish Sun

03-05-2025

'THE BULL' can be outstanding in his field — if only Limerick boss John Kiely would play Shane O'Brien to his strengths.
The Treaty need to rediscover their form — and fast — to have any hope of maintaining their grip on Munster and reclaiming Liam MacCarthy.
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Babs Keating gave his thoughts on Limerick
Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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Kyle Hayes of Limerick in action against Craig Morgan of Tipperary
Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Kiely's side simply must beat Waterford tonight.
The question is, how much will they improve from last Sunday week against Tipperary in Thurles, because that was an atrocious performance by the provincial champions.
So what will they have learned from that display?
My only criticism of Limerick in the glory days between 2018 and 2023 was they overdid it on the short-passing — and they're still at it.
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They have a young, strong, mobile forward in 'The Bull' O'Brien, a man you can play the ball into.
He's a fantastic targetman, an option they haven't really had before, and he stepped up last year when given his chance in the Munster final, and scored 0-2 from play on his first Championship start in Thurles against Clare. But Kiely was wrong to drop him for Séamus Flanagan in the All-Ireland semi-final last year — even though Flanagan had scored 3-3 in the Munster round-robin clash with the Rebels — and I'd say the Limerick manager realised that when Cork ended the Drive for Five.
O'Brien saved Limerick in many ways in Thurles last month, making the most of what he got, with a return of 1-4 from play.
But the half-backs and midfielders kept recycling the ball when it should have just been delivered to him on the edge of the square. Even though they drew with Tipp, none of Limerick's multiple All-Star players came close to what they showed when winning five All-Ireland titles in six years.
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Their backs really struggled and Diarmaid Byrnes' performance was as bad as I've seen from the man who has five Celtic Crosses and was named Hurler of the Year — unusually as a defender — only three years ago.
Limerick hurling has had great investment from businessman JP McManus, but at the moment there is no return at Under-20 level.
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The Under-20s are already out of the Championship — having lost to Cork and Clare, drawn with Waterford and beaten my home county. They have not reached a final since 2022, when they lost 0-19 to 0-18 to Kilkenny, albeit they were denied the services of Cathal O'Neill due to the rules at the time.
From that side O'Neill, O'Brien, Aidan O'Connor, Fergal O'Connor, Ethan Hurley, Colin Coughlan, Adam English, Patrick O'Donovan and Donnacha Ó Dálaigh have progressed.
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Their last title — in the old Under-21 grade — was in 2017 and that team has backboned the current senior side, along with the All-Ireland-winning group of 2015.
Seán Finn, Kyle Hayes, Tom Morrissey, Barry Nash, Cian Lynch, Peter Casey, Aaron Gillane and Barry Murphy all started the 2017 decider.
Byrnes was captain of the 2015 team that also featured Mike Casey, Richie English, Gearóid Hegarty, Darragh O'Donovan and Flanagan.
Limerick's senior players have been superb — I'm not denying that — they were exceptional in winning five out of six All-Ireland titles.
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They will rightly go down as one of the all-time great teams.
But do they have the replacements coming for when a lot of their household names move on?
Many people had English at the top of their lists but he did not show it against Tipp.
I know he got 1-3, but even at my age, I'd have scored that goal because he was left on his own to tap to the net.
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And he failed to make an impact in the second half.
I would have thought that Aidan O'Connor would have come in ahead of him, based on what I saw in the league.
The spotlight is on Hegarty and Tom Morrissey tonight because both of them fell well below their usual high standards in Thurles.
WAT A WIN
They're up against it this evening, facing a Waterford team buoyed by their
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It wasn't the first time that All-Ireland champions were taught a lesson down there either.
The Déise's 1967 Munster Championship win over Cork was a hell of a shock — nobody has got an easy ride since at Walsh Park.
Austin Gleeson came off the bench late on, having taken time away last year.
But we all know how good the 2016 Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year can be when at the peak of his powers.
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The only aspect of his play I didn't like was at times he tried to do it all himself and lacked a 'team-player' element to his game.
He always had the skills and strength and if he can get his fitness back, he will be a huge asset to Peter Queally.
I love Waterford hurling and I'm delighted they're being led by the home-grown management team of Queally and Big Dan Shanahan.
'Dan the Man' — the last Waterford man before Aussie to be named Hurler of the Year, in 2007 — still lines out for his beloved Lismore when needed.
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Waterford will be incredibly hard to beat at home but Clare's performance last week was probably the worst we've seen under Brian Lohan. So I don't think Déise supporters should read too much into that win — they came up against an easy touch.
The finger is often pointed at the man between the sticks when things go wrong, but Eibhear Quilligan is probably the luckiest keeper in the world to win an All-Ireland.
He conceded a terrible goal against Cork in Ennis two weeks ago and struggled with his puckouts for the entire first half against the Rebels.
Youngsters Adam Hogan and Mark Rodgers are not stepping up this year.
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David Fitzgerald's performance — conceding frees, charging his opponents, his wides and distribution — was way off the standard we are accustomed to.
And Peter Duggan, although he came into the game, was not anywhere near the level he got to in the second half against Cork.
It shows how much Lohan relied on Shane O'Donnell and Tony Kelly to win that All-Ireland last July.
Tipp go to Ennis next Saturday with both teams needing to win to keep their Championships alive.
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Because if Kiely resolves the issues from the Tipp draw, Limerick will join Cork in the Munster driving seat.