By John Harrington

Playing Limerick has been an unhappy experience for most teams in recent years, but Eoin Cody sees Sunday’s League Final as an opportunity to be relished.

He reckons the best way of figuring out how to beat the three-in-a-row All-Ireland champions is to play them as much as you possibly can.

Important lessons can be learned from every match against the best team in the country, so regardless of the result on Sunday he views it as an important intelligence gathering operation.

“You want to play the best, to beat the best,” says Cody.

“Last year was the first time that we played Limerick since 2019 and you learn from all these games.

“We will look at last year’s game, learn from that and give it a proper rattle. We are delighted to play this game.”

Kilkenny pushed Limerick right to the wire in last year’s All-Ireland Final before eventually falling short by just two points.

What were the major lessons gleaned from that experience they can put to good use on Sunday?

“Last year in the All-Ireland we gave it everything we had and if we do that again we’ll give ourselves a right shot,” says Cody.

“I suppose we did hit a few wides in that game, which is probably something you look back on, and even myself personally is something you can focus on.

“We go at every game with the right intention. The hard work, the hunger, the relentlessness is always there in this Kilkenny team.

“Maybe being a bit more ruthless in front of goal and take all our scores. You have to play the percentages. If the goal is not on you can’t go for it. Especially against this Limerick team, they are so good.

“If you’re not ruthless enough and you go for the goal when it’s not really on you get turned over. That’s a point gone and they can go up the other end and score a point. That’s a two-point turnaround and you’re kicking yourself.”

What gives Cody cause for optimism is that he believes the Kilkenny panel is stronger now than it was at this time last year, and that as a team they have significant room for further improvement.

“Absolutely,” he says. “I think when you look at our team and how young it is, it's a build in progress.

“We emphasise that it's not going to be perfect every day but it's all about just believing in yourself and believing in the training, the team, the panel and management.

“We're really emphasising this year putting belief into ourselves that we can do it. Maybe it won't be perfect but it's just about going and going again and keeping our heads up rather than having them down. There's a great belief in the team that this is only the start of it hopefully.”

Sunday, April 9

Allianz Hurling League Division 1 final

Limerick v Kilkenny, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, 2pm_ - TG4_