JOHN KIELY, the Limerick hurling manager has said that he is looking forward to seeing his side take part in a number of pre-season competitions next month after having such a mammoth 2021
Limerick collected their second All-Ireland title in a row in August and were expected to skip the compition, but the Limerick manager claims particapating in Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling Cup competition is a “worthwhile exercise”, adding “we’ve always gotten something out of it”.
“All I can say about the Co-Op Superstores league is that we’ve found, from our initial engagement with the competition, that we’ve always gotten something out of it,” said Kiely.
John Kiely talks about what was said in dressing room at half-time against Tipp in 2021 https://t.co/QkA59zwBZa
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“I think it’s a very worthy competition to support as well. Obviously each group has pressures on it — pressures from the Fitzgibbon Cup, pressures from provincial club competitions, pressures from maybe being back a short length of time and not having a significant amount of training done, pressures of injury in the sense that you’ll have fellas still rehabbing knocks and injuries they picked up last season.
“There are all sorts of pressures that come into play as to why you might not participate in the competition, but overall participating outweighs not participating over the years, in our experience.
“Going back a couple of years we would have had a lot of players involved in the Fitzgibbon Cup but we still managed to spread the load across the group in order to make it a worthwhile exercise.
“It’s a couple of games, but you need a couple of games to get up and running, and they’re a couple of games that are there for you.
“In addition the Munster Council — and the other counties — are always very flexible as well around fixture dates, to make sure we don’t clash with other games and dates, and also to make sure we’re not hitting fellas too heavy in terms of fitness.
“I think everyone is smart now about player loads and not overdoing it compared to 20 years ago, when the science wasn’t there and people weren’t as savvy.”
Limerick players and staff celebrate their victory (Image: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)“Obviously there’s preparation for next year continuing apace, but that’s going on behind the scenes.
“I haven’t gotten around to meeting every player yet either, but I wouldn't be expecting any retirements, certainly."
