Former Tipperary star Shane McGrath believes that out of Limerick's four All-Ireland titles, their recent win over Kilkenny was the best of them all.
Limerick successfully retained their Liam McCarthy crown with a comprehensive score of 2-15 to 0-30 points on Sunday. Although they fell behind in the game, Limerick gradually grew stronger, and in the final half-hour, John Kiely's men outscored Kilkenny 0-19 to 0-5.
This victory marks their fourth consecutive All-Ireland triumph, making them only the third team to achieve this feat after Cork (1941-1944) and Kilkenny (2006-2009). The debate about whether Kilkenny under Brian Cody or Limerick under John Kiely is the greatest hurling side ever will continue to rumble on, but for now they stand amongst the greats in hurling
For Shane McGrath, this All-Ireland win stands out as their best due to the players they were missing. The Treaty county had to cope without their captain, Declan Hannon, and All-Star defender Sean Finn during the crucial stages of their campaign. McGrath highlighted their remarkable performance in the Munster campaign, where he believes some of the best teams in the country still reside.
Dublin , Ireland - 23 July 2023; Diarmaid Byrnes, left, and Mike Casey of Limerick celebrates after the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship final (Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"I think this is their best All-Ireland with who they were missing, what they did coming through the Munster campaign," when speaking on the RTE GAA podcast this week.
Despite potential opposition from Leinster supporters, McGrath firmly expressed his view that Limerick faced tougher challenges in Munster. Their journey included overcoming significant obstacles, with a scoring difference of +2 after five games. In the semi-final and final, they demonstrated their dominance, convincingly defeating the Leinster teams, Galway and Kilkenny, respectively.
"Leinster people aren't going to like me saying this but I'm going to say it anyway. I still feel that three or four of the best teams in the country are still in Munster.
"When you see what Limerick did to the two Leinster teams in the semi-final and final... Look, Kilkenny are there on merit but I still feel that, look at what Limerick had to come through in Munster - +2 [scoring difference] after five games.
"They demolished Galway in the semi-final and they did more or less the same yesterday in the All-Ireland final."
