“I COULDN’T WATCH it to be honest, knowing that they were there.”
Limerick’s hurlers were well placed to judge the credentials of September’s All-Ireland final pairing. They’d beaten Tipperary in Thurles in June and been beaten by Kilkenny in Croke Park in August.
But when that pair crossed paths in a pair of absorbing showdowns in September, Limerick attacker Graeme Mulcahy wasn’t inclined to tune in. The regrets at not being there informed his mindset.
“If we are beaten I always find it hard to sit down and watch the games if we lose. I’d always feel that we should be there even if we didn’t deserve it at the time.
“The year before it was a different feeling with Clare having beaten us and we didn’t perform. Kilkenny beating us (2014) and having beaten Tipp we knew that we were well good enough to be there.”
Mulcahy is heartened by the stability that’s been brought to the county’s hurling fortunes by TJ Ryan’s appointment for the next three years.
“Knowing we have TJ on board gives lads a bit of confidence and stability that’s hasn’t been there in the last few years.
“You need continuity and stability. TJ is a fantastic guy and he’s really stepped up to the fore since Donal left and lads have great respect for him. He has a good manner with the players. I really like working with him.”
The pain of that Limerick loss have been eased for Mulcahy by the progress of his club Kilmallock. On Sunday they seek to land the club’s first Munster senior hurling crown in two decades.
“ Any club that’s won a county before, they always want to move on to bigger and better things. We’re hoping to do that on Sunday. There was definitely a bigger desire this year, there’s a better feeling in around the group.
“I think Na Piarsaigh winning the two Munster clubs with us having won Limerick counties in between, has really showed us that the bar can be set higher. We’ve tried to get to their standard and we hope we can go that one step further next Sunday.”