John Kiely: 'There is a great energy'

Click here to listen to the full interview with Limerick senior hurling team manager John Kiely.

By Cian O'Connell

"The 10 years have flown, the seasons roll into each other," Limerick manager John Kiely says about a rewarding time.

"They're tremendously enjoyable. There is a great group of people, they're really great fun to be around. There is a great energy, they work very, very hard. You don't ever have to go hard looking for the work for them, they always apply themselves to their very best every single night in training.

"It's just something that is in those guys, they've hugely determined mindsets. They're as tough as anything on themselves as much as anybody else. I think they just love being together as a group.

"There is a great cohesiveness, there is a great fun and respect for each other in that group. We're just privileged to be around them and to help them try to achieve their dreams."

That has most certainly been the case since the stirring 2018 All-Ireland triumph.

When Clare posed demanding questions in a hard fought semi-final, Limerick found the requisite answers. "These guys being there before, I think, is a key piece of it," Kiely reflects.

"Experiences are key in those moments. We spoke about it at half-time, that this game is going to go to the wire, and we were going to push it to the wire. I think they were prepared for that. We got a tremendous kick off the bench, five lads all came on, and made an impact, which was really telling.

"Our best quarter in the game was the final quarter. So, that's a huge plus for us, and it was just when we needed it. Hats off to the lads, they worked really, really hard, and took their chances when they came eventually. It has given us this opportunity now so we need to seize it."

An All-Ireland decider against Galway beckons at Croke Park on Sunday. At the end of the 2025 campaign, though, Limerick had to deal with harrowing Championship losses to Cork and Dublin. "There was a lot of disappointment last July and August," Kiely says.

"We'd worked very, very hard. For some reason, we'd no energy when it came to the quarter-final. The Munster final was a massive disappointment to us and the game came very quickly to us after that. For the Dublin match, our energy levels were low, we hadn't fully recovered, and Dublin put in a fantastic performance on the day.

"So, we've to acknowledge that. It does fuel the fire for the intervening months, you take a long hard look at yourself. The group sits down, we process it individually and collectively.

"We try to find as much of a takeaway from it, that we can bring into the following season. We did a really good job on that, I think.

"Much of our season this year is feeding from what we learned last year and in 2024, too. Those experiences harden you, they make you more determined, and I think that's what we've brought into this season."

Another high stakes Croke Park tussle looms.