By Michael Devlin

There were signs in recent years that Galway would rise to the top of the hurling tree and mount a challenge for back-to-back Liam MacCarthy Cups, according to former team captain David Collins.

Collins called time on his career with the Tribesman in 2016, a year short of his Galway team mates collecting All Ireland medals after Galway ended a 29 year wait for hurling's ultimate prize.

12 years in the maroon jersey, a Leinster title, two National Leagues, an All-Star and a Young Hurler of the Year award from 2005, Collins hung up his hurl on his own terms but the Liam Mellows clubman was confident that a period of superiority for the county was coming down the tracks.

“I could see that if we made a breakthrough at all, we could lead it,” Collins told GAA.ie at the launch of the 2018 Fexco Asian Gaelic Games. “I was happy enough at the time walking away because there was a great bunch of Galway players there.

“I would have never left it in the situation where we hadn't got leaders there - the likes of Canning, David Burke and even Padraic Mannion coming through. Johnny Glynn is a massive guy. These guys are massive leaders

“Galway have that now and I was happy to walk away at that stage. Did I want to hang around for another year or two? No. I wanted to give the commitment to the club. The decision wasn't made lightly but you live and die by the sword. I was injury free at the time and I wasn't making the Galway team. I had two years done as a sub and I wanted to give the time to the club.

“I'm delighted to say I know the boys still. Last year was class when they won the All-Ireland I knew them all. You could still call them up and meet them for a pint afterwards. If they'd won it five or six years down the road you wouldn't have had the same connection to them."

Limerick stand in their way of successive All-Ireland titles, and Collins believes that that glory this year would top the achievement of last year’s success, given the more challenging route to Sunday’s final.

“When you look at it last year they had no run against Kilkenny and had a nice All-Ireland win. Now they had to play Kilkenny three times and beat them twice, and then turnaround and play Clare twice. It's a different ball game, they'll have played nine games running into this.

“It's a fair feat for them to actually go on and win it the next day. They're going to be up against it, no doubt. I do believe they'll win it. It's been a fantastic year so far. Yes, I had confidence they would go all the way.

“I think this year would be way more impressive if they win it because of the teams that they've played and the amount of games that they've played."

Collins, who succeeded Dermot Earley as the president of the Gaelic Players’ Association last year, is wary of the threat posed by the Limerick subs bench. “You're dealing with a minimal hand. You look at the substitutes they have to bring in and the substitutes Limerick have.

“Limerick scored 2-6 off their bench two weeks ago. What did Galway score? Two or three points. That's going to be key to it the next day. What the Limerick bench brings on and how Galway have a chance to stop that impact.”

A big question mark on the lead-up to the game has been the fitness of Galway's influential centre-back Gearóid McInerney, who missed the semi-final replay win over Clare after picking up a calf injury in the drawn game. Signs are looking positive that the Oramnore-Maree clubman will return to the starting fifteen for Sunday, and Collins believes his presence in the Galway defence will be crucial to deciding the outcome of the game.

“The talk is that he'll be back in but knowing McInerney, he'll fight for every minute of it. That's going to be a call for Micheal [Donoghue] to make. As a player you want to go play every game and whether you're injured or not you're going to say, 'I'm fine.' It really is going to have to be an honest call from him to say whether he's 80 or 90 per cent. If he's no better than 90 per cent then I wouldn't be putting him in.

“Until you're on that pitch of Championship pace, you're not going to know. You will never push yourself in training matches to the level you will at championship pace no matter how hard you try. He'll not have three weeks of hurling done so he's going to be under pressure. He'll be training and pucking the ball but he won't be at that pace.

“But then again you look at the people who've stepped back in there, Joe Cooney to the half-back line and Niall Burke steps in and is a fair addition to the team. If he's out, I wouldn't write them off. I'd still give them a fantastic chance.”