NIALL MORAN HAS officially returned to the Limerick panel ahead of Sunday week’s Munster hurling final after having announced his retirement last December from the inter-county game.
Manager TJ Ryan confirmed last night that he has brought Moran back into the frame and that he had tried to entice him to make a comeback earlier this year.
Moran was not part of the 26-man squad for the provincial semi-final win over Tipperary last month but is back in contention for a place on the panel for the clash with Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on July 13th.
“At the start of the year maybe I tried to change his mind,” revealed Ryan. “But Niall has a lot of things going on between teaching and farming and building a house. You have to take into consideration that people have lives outside of this too.
“We’re looking for 24/7 but this is what we do as a hobby at the end of the day. I said to him that from where we are at, anything or anybody that can help we’ll certainly have a look at.
“Niall’s been training with us since before the Tipperary game and Mike Fitzgerald from Doon as well, but he got a hamstring injury in a club game so he’s been unfortunate.
“At the end of the day we were looking to make up 15-v-15′s in training and had a few injuries before Tipperary. He (Niall) was one of the calls I made basically and he was mad keen. He came back and we said we’d have a look, there was no pressure on either side but he’s back now and he knew 100 per cent what it was about. Niall is a top man.”
31 year-old Moran made his Limerick senior debut in 2003 and was part of the side that contested the 2007 All-Ireland senior hurling final. Last July he won his first Munster senior medal when Limerick defeated Cork by 0-24 to 0-15 in the decider at the Gaelic Grounds.
Limerick continue to be without U21 player David Reidy due to a shoulder injury while there are fresh injury worries over Conor Allis (ankle) and Alan Dempsey (knee).
