DESPITE THE FACT that a number of Limerick die-hards will miss the Munster final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the tickets debate simply cannot enter the minds of the Munster champions.
According to Shane Dowling, the Munster Council’s decision not to move the game to Thurles and accommodate the demand for tickets will not affect his team.
“Being honest, it’s a sideshow from a player’s perspective because we’ll get our tickets and we’ll be able to get into the ground anyway, and really that is the most important thing.
“You’d have to feel sorry for the genuine supporters who are going to miss it but really that’s not something that can concern us.”
Cork failed in receiving Munster Council clearance for an increased capacity of over 40,000 in what will be the last-ever provincial game before the ground’s redevelopment.
Dowling scored 2-9 in Limerick’s semi-final victory over Tipperary, and he says he’s not interested in setting up any excuses for next month’s final with Cork.
“As far as we’re concerned, it’s a beautiful pitch and there’s two goalposts so that’s good enough for us.
“A Munster senior hurling final, if you don’t have enough motivation for playing that, it shouldn’t make any difference where — it’s all irrelevant anyway because it’s not being moved.”
Limerick’s last Munster championship meeting with Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh came in 2010, and although Limerick were at the end of a 13-point beating that day, over the past decade the county does have a good record in the venue.
“The early 2000s team had a good record, but I have no record down there. So I believe that really counts for nothing at the end of the day. Dodge (Donal O’Grady) and Niall Moran maybe might have played there in 2010, but I’ve never played there
and neither have the majority of players so it won’t count for a whole lot.
Everyone saw the Cork players’ interviews after the game: everything was Páirc Uí Chaoimh, ‘we can’t wait to get there’. They want to strike it off on a good note and every county would be the same so it will take a personal best for us to beat them.”
One thing Dowling is certainly happy about is Central Council’s decision last week for all club championship fixtures to be played in the same calender year.
“I fully 110 per cent agree, I couldn’t agree more with it,” explained the Na Piarsaigh man who won a Munster club championship last year.
“For the club player who doesn’t play for the county, the old cliche might be gone — the club player getting to Paddy’s Day. It’s a huge day out and it’s a tradition and the whole lot.
“But from a county player’s point of view, my God trying to keep going for that long and keeping fresh is extremely difficult. I think that’s a huge step in the right direction.”
The 21-year-old attacker feels the amendment is “a huge step in the right direction” by the GAA.
“The furthest you can go with the county is September, so when we finished in August last year I had still had five or six months of hard work to go into.
“Players are only human as well, they need a break. You need to be fresh. I was delighted when I saw it. If you had a long run and it at least finished up by Christmas time, at least you get a break and the mind will be fresh going into the new year.”
