By John Harrington

JJ Delaney believes Limerick will be out to lay down a marker against Cork in Saturday evening’s Allianz Hurling League clash at the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

The two teams meet again in the Munster SHC semi-final four weeks later, but Delaney doesn’t anticipate either will be holding anything back on Saturday.

He knows from his own experience from playing with an all-conquering Kilkenny team that League matches against perceived rivals are a great opportunity to shoot a few holes in their confidence.

“It'll be very interesting to see what starting 15s both teams put out because I think from a Cork point of view they are going to stick to that running style, that's the way they're going to go, and they have to start with their main guys there as well," said Delaney at the Sky Sports 2021 Championship launch.

“Do Limerick counteract that with their strongest 15 or do they just give lads opportunities?

“I think personally myself that if I was a Limerick player I'd like to put out my strongest 15 and curtail Cork’s confidence with their own game. Again, they're only developing this game at the start so keep them down as much as you can. If Cork go on and beat Limerick it's going to give Cork confidence.

“When it comes to the Munster Championship you just don't give Cork teams any confidence at all because they will develop and their chest will go out more than any other team.

“They breathe on confidence alone. Again, if I was a Limerick player or part of the Limerick management team, I'd want to put out my strongest 15 on Saturday night and keep them down as much as you could, to be honest, because it'll make it easier in three or four weeks time again when you go playing that same team knowing that you weren't at full pelt but you still beat that 15 they put out.”

Delaney also believes that John Kiely and his players will want to produce a big performance on Saturday because they’ve had a stuttering enough League campaign so far with one draw and two defeats from three matches.

“I think John might be a small bit concerned with the fringe players that got the opportunity, and didn't really take it to be honest with you,” says Delaney.

“They probably will go back to the same 15, maybe one or two different guys might go in and put their hand up between now and the end of the league. But I think the starting XV, you can predict it for Limerick.

“That's maybe what John wanted from this League, to find a few new players and put a bit of pressure on the starting 15.

“Paddy O'Loughlin is gone off the panel, he could have been pushing one of them guys, pushing the likes of Byrnes or Declan Hannon or someone like that. But he's gone, there's another option gone there as well.

“I'd say he'll (Kiely) be a small bit concerned. When you're defending All-Ireland champions, when a team is playing you, it's not just a game [for them], it's setting down a marker for later on in the year.

“It's not just a league game for everyone else so I think Limerick probably understand now where they have to be at. I think the first couple of rounds in the league were probably, 'ok right, we've dusted the cobwebs off now we have to go again.'

“So I think it's important that they learn from the first couple of games that 'we have to be mentally and physically up for every game we play. We can't have a night off.’

“Overall I'd say John was hoping to get more out of the league so far. But he'll have to use the rest of the league to get his starting XV and get his guys physically and mentally right for every game, because it's going to be a huge battle. They're not going to get that rub of the green, the referees are not going to give that 50:50 decision anymore.

“As a team, they're going to have to accept that and use it as a motivational factor, and say 'we can't let it down to the last five minutes, we have to finish off the games with 10 minutes to go' and all that kind of stuff too.”

Limerick haven’t hit top gear yet this year but Delaney’s native Kilkenny are motoring nicely with three wins from three, the latest a very impressive 10-point dismantling of a Wexford team they’ve struggled against in recent years.

Delaney has been impressed by the form of some individual players as well as the great tactical flexibility the entire team seems to be now playing with.

“Yeah, I have been very impressed with a couple of positional changes more than anything,” he says.

“I think Padraig Walsh at centre-back is vital. He was back wing-back last year and I think he was taken out of the game. It's very easy to keep him out of the game when he's out on the wings, just puck it down the far side. Paddy Deegan was on the other wing and especially against Waterford they were under pressure.

“So, him back at six is a huge gain, I think, because he reads the game so well. What I've been impressed by with Kilkenny is their style of play they're using at the moment.

“For the last four or five years they've been very, very predictable, that's been thrown at them. But in the League they've been using the short game as well and it just puts a seed of doubt in opposition minds come the Championship.

“Are they going to go long, are they going to go short, is there a mix-up? It's very good for Brian and the players to flex their muscles and show, yeah, we can play the short game if we pick and choose to. They still revert to the long game as well, you still have ball-winners up there, the likes of TJ and Billy Ryan is very good in the air as well, Adrian Mullen is good in the air, John Donnelly is very good in the air.

“So, you don't just park that to one side and don't go back to it. If there are ball winners up there, the simplest game in the world is get the ball up to them and let TJ go up and win the ball and he's going to hit the ball over the bar, so keep it simple.

"They are trying different things in regarding playing it out from the back. Especially against Dublin, I've never seen Eoin Murphy going as short so regularly throughout the game. It's obviously a tactic they have. It caught Dublin on the hop because Dublin were filtering back a lot of players and they used the ball very well.

“Again, with Kilkenny, they work very, very hard. They have very versatile players as well. So if they're on the ball and expressing themselves a bit more, letting the players go out and show they can play a short game and express themselves, that'll give a new lease of life to every single one of those players, to be honest with you. It's good to see.

“I'm very encouraged so far. I think we've a bit to go, but I think it's been very, very encouraging. The likes of Darragh Corcoran is after coming in and is hurling very well. James Bergin came in corner-forward and he looks a natural corner-forward which is probably what we're crying out for as well.

“It's been positive enough so far, to be fair.”