FOR THE FIRST time since 2020, the Limerick hurlers enter a championship season without the tag of defending national champions fastened to them.
It represents a shift in atmosphere surrounding a team that have achieved an extraordinary run of success.
John Kiely had steered his side to four successive Liam MacCarthy Cup triumphs until Cork nudged them towards the semi-final exit door last July.
Coupled with their breakthrough win in 2018, and the fact they have won the last six Munster championships, Kiely has been at the helm for a period of great achievement that has also demanded a huge level of personal input.
There was naturally cause to wonder if he would go again after last year’s defeat, but September’s announcement that Kiely and his coaching sidekick Paul Kinnerk were committing for another two years, was proof that there was still fuel in the tank.
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“You have your mind made up beforehand, to be honest,” says Kiely, ahead of Sunday’s 2025 opener against Tipperary.
“It’s not that you leave it expire and then visit it.
“I would have had that question (about continuing)]in my head for the previous 12 months and one of the main litmus tests for me is, number one I enjoy it, the journey, the work and being with the group.
“Number two, and it sits alongside it in terms of importance, do you think that the group are benefiting by you being there? So enjoyment and benefit to the group, they’re the two primary questions.
“I have always really enjoyed being with them. There’s a fantastic backroom team. There have been changes over the years, there has probably been a bit more change this last winter but nonetheless there are great relationships there.”
Those backroom changes were striking in the off-season. Liam Cronin arrived as coach and Adrian O’Brien entered to offer S&C guidance. Donal O’Grady and Aengus O’Brien departed, with the former taking charge of the Limerick minor hurlers.
Limerick's Donal O'Grady. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Limerick saw stalwarts like Richie English and Graeme Mulcahy retired, but player turnover is not an issue for Kiely.
“I would always look to have a 10 per cent rotation. You would be looking at between three or four players per year to be rotating. That can happen naturally by people retiring, by people getting injured. It’s healthy that there is that change and if you think about that, that would mean a new group every 10 years.
“On an overall average across five, six, seven seasons, I would see 10 per cent as healthy and necessary. We’ve always liked to bring in players and keep them for two to three years to get a real opportunity to grow physically, to grow tactically, to get to know everyone in the group really well and understand how everyone else in the group plays.”
The expectation then is players like Adam English, Cathal O’Neill, Shane O’Brien, Colin Coughlan, and Aidan O’Connor will begin to take ownership of this team. They are the new wave that can refresh Limerick.
In optiong to stay in charge, Kiely didn’t feel a need to get player approval.
“I have to trust my own intuition and my own experience in that regard. I’m not going to network through the entire group to get their opinion on it.
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“Plus, if I am doing my job I should have a very good sense of the group.”
Kiely was different to most of his inter-county managerial compatriots in that he welcome the removal of pre-season competitions from the agenda.
“If you look at the year before we had a Munster League game against Cork that was cancelled on a number of occasions. On each of those occasions you are getting ready for a competitive game, logistics around pre match meals, buses, venue, a lot goes into it, a lot of expense goes into it as well.
“What I found this year was that without that pressure of competitive games, you were able to really focus into your pre-season training and lads were given a chance to ramp up their work in a steady way and I know the players and management felt it was a good fit to get a block of five or six weeks of work in before we got to a competitive space.
“Yes we did play challenges but when you are organising them yourself you have great flexibility around them so they can be on when you want them to be on, where you want them to be on. You can play two different teams, one in the first half and one in the second half. If you think the weather is going to be better on a Saturday than a Sunday you can change it with a phone call.”
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John Kiely: 'If I am doing my job, I should have a very good sense of the group'
FOR THE FIRST time since 2020, the Limerick hurlers enter a championship season without the tag of defending national champions fastened to them.
It represents a shift in atmosphere surrounding a team that have achieved an extraordinary run of success.
John Kiely had steered his side to four successive Liam MacCarthy Cup triumphs until Cork nudged them towards the semi-final exit door last July.
Coupled with their breakthrough win in 2018, and the fact they have won the last six Munster championships, Kiely has been at the helm for a period of great achievement that has also demanded a huge level of personal input.
There was naturally cause to wonder if he would go again after last year’s defeat, but September’s announcement that Kiely and his coaching sidekick Paul Kinnerk were committing for another two years, was proof that there was still fuel in the tank.
“You have your mind made up beforehand, to be honest,” says Kiely, ahead of Sunday’s 2025 opener against Tipperary.
“It’s not that you leave it expire and then visit it.
“I would have had that question (about continuing)]in my head for the previous 12 months and one of the main litmus tests for me is, number one I enjoy it, the journey, the work and being with the group.
“Number two, and it sits alongside it in terms of importance, do you think that the group are benefiting by you being there? So enjoyment and benefit to the group, they’re the two primary questions.
“I have always really enjoyed being with them. There’s a fantastic backroom team. There have been changes over the years, there has probably been a bit more change this last winter but nonetheless there are great relationships there.”
Those backroom changes were striking in the off-season. Liam Cronin arrived as coach and Adrian O’Brien entered to offer S&C guidance. Donal O’Grady and Aengus O’Brien departed, with the former taking charge of the Limerick minor hurlers.
Limerick saw stalwarts like Richie English and Graeme Mulcahy retired, but player turnover is not an issue for Kiely.
“I would always look to have a 10 per cent rotation. You would be looking at between three or four players per year to be rotating. That can happen naturally by people retiring, by people getting injured. It’s healthy that there is that change and if you think about that, that would mean a new group every 10 years.
“On an overall average across five, six, seven seasons, I would see 10 per cent as healthy and necessary. We’ve always liked to bring in players and keep them for two to three years to get a real opportunity to grow physically, to grow tactically, to get to know everyone in the group really well and understand how everyone else in the group plays.”
The expectation then is players like Adam English, Cathal O’Neill, Shane O’Brien, Colin Coughlan, and Aidan O’Connor will begin to take ownership of this team. They are the new wave that can refresh Limerick.
In optiong to stay in charge, Kiely didn’t feel a need to get player approval.
“I have to trust my own intuition and my own experience in that regard. I’m not going to network through the entire group to get their opinion on it.
“Plus, if I am doing my job I should have a very good sense of the group.”
Kiely was different to most of his inter-county managerial compatriots in that he welcome the removal of pre-season competitions from the agenda.
“If you look at the year before we had a Munster League game against Cork that was cancelled on a number of occasions. On each of those occasions you are getting ready for a competitive game, logistics around pre match meals, buses, venue, a lot goes into it, a lot of expense goes into it as well.
“What I found this year was that without that pressure of competitive games, you were able to really focus into your pre-season training and lads were given a chance to ramp up their work in a steady way and I know the players and management felt it was a good fit to get a block of five or six weeks of work in before we got to a competitive space.
“Yes we did play challenges but when you are organising them yourself you have great flexibility around them so they can be on when you want them to be on, where you want them to be on. You can play two different teams, one in the first half and one in the second half. If you think the weather is going to be better on a Saturday than a Sunday you can change it with a phone call.”
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GAA Hurling John Kiely Limerick Munster