ASK JOHN KIELY WHERE he and Limerick manage to find the reservoirs of hunger and drive to keep this remarkable team going, season after season, and he admits after the Munster final the elemental feeling behind it all.
“Myself and Paul (Kinnerk) each before the game – you feel that edge and, I suppose, nervousness in the pit of your stomach that you should feel when you’re in Thurles for a Munster final,” he says.
“We grew up as children looking in on these occasions, never thinking we’d ever be involved in them. And we need to remind ourselves, from time to time, that these are just incredible occasions to be a part of. Once, let alone any other number of times after that. And we need to appreciate every single one of them, because you never know the time it’s going to be your last time there.”
In breaking all these records, this Limerick team are already out in front in Munster. Soon, the individual records will fall if they keep this level of consistency going.
At the heart of it is a humility to keep pushing on, to park the victories. Kiely mentioned that this win feels every bit as sweet as the very first one.
“We understand, and we appreciate, that this is an incredible piece of sport to be a part of. An occasion of sport to be a part of. I’m just glad we produced a performance worthy of it today,” he said.
“It means a lot to the group. It means a huge amount to the group. We just want to keep going. You can’t stop moving forward. The boys have a very clear understanding of the necessity for us to keep moving forward, to get better, hitting the targets that we want to hit in terms of our performance. That’s all that matters to us really.”
As the tension was building inside the stadium, a sudden power outage only ramped up some of the tension. As both sides went through their warm ups, it was announced that the game would be delayed by 30 minutes.
Afterwards, captain Declan Hannon made mention that Limerick have backroom staff that numbers 53. It might have been a throwaway remark. It might be taking in county board figures.
Who knows? But either way, there is a significant apparatus around the team and such an event is sure to set some of them on edge. Kiely admitted it was unsettling.
“Of course it is. You want to start. You have your routine, you want to go through it. All you can do is reset and go again,” he said.
“I think the players absorbed it and handled it well. It was clearly something you’d rather not go through. But you have to overcome adversity in sport. If that’s as big a piece of adversity we’ll meet this year, we’ll get over it.
“There’s far worse things that can happen you, an injury during a warm-up is far more unsettling and disruptive. To be told you have to reset and go again in half an hour, so be it.”
When you break records in your backyard, the only thing to do is to take the tour national. The five in a row. It’s part of the mainstream chat now. They cannot ignore it.
“Ah listen, the conversation has been there a long time. They’re numbers at the end of the day. They weren’t important coming in today; they’re not going to be important after today,” said Kiely.
“What’s important for us is what we go after ourselves. We know that. Internally, those are the drivers, those are the motivating factors. They’re the things that we’re relentless to go after, and we’ll keep going after those relentlessly.
“We’re thrilled to have won it. It’s the end of that chapter for 2024, the Munster championship. We’re thrilled to have come out the right side of it. It means a huge amount to us. But we now know that we’re after opening another chapter, and now we have to embrace that and we have to go after that, and it will mean continued work, continued hard work, chasing even greater targets.
“Greater challenges coming at us from the opposition. And embracing that challenge that lies ahead.”
Croke Park awaits.
