All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (Liam McCarthy Cup) 2021

I remember someone once saying that Micko was the best sports psychologist ever and I can see the truth in that.

The cork lads will obviously tell you more but saw Donal on the pitch before the game last week and he seemed to be looking grand to the naked eye anyway.

Its a fear of being hammered but its a self destruction tactic as you have no chance to win the game unless the opposition don't show up. Waterford have tried this 4 times against Limerick and failed. In 2017 they played a sweeper v galway in the final, a team that had run through the championship picking off teams from 50 to 60m and rarely scoring a goal. Its stupid tactics that lost relevance in the early part of the last decade.

a lot of posters here putting far to much stock in history.

Judge this championship on the performances of the teams in this championship alone.

Waterford were terrible in the first round and lost against a Clare team who have a serious lack of depth with only two decent players. Waterford were so bad in the first round that a 100% improvement wouldnt scare anyone.

Limerick had a bit of a game for a while against a young cork side, but when they lost a man they went up a few gears and always had it in them.

Tipp made hard work of A very average clare side in the semi and never showed anything to make them be considered title contenders, their first half in the Munster final caught everyone by surprise but couldnt keep it up.

The QF’s in leinster were pointless, while wexford put in a massive shift and rattled Kilkenny in the semi they couldnt finish the job and kilkenny had a handy leinster final win. How bad were galway? Some considered them to be the best places to challenge limericks.

There is a question over how good kilkenny are, what level are they hurling at because a 9 point win against a weakened dublin side isnt exactly emphatic, but their display under pressure against wexford was impressive, however should it even have been that close?

Cork vs kilkenny will be interesting to see how good kilkenny actually are because the level leinster hurling is at is difficult to judge, and how far Cork have come can be gauged against kilkenny.

Tomorrow will tell a lot but i don't see anything happening that will scare limerick - the only team left that has turned up everyday so far.

Maybe lay off the sherry you're making a fool out of yourself.

Kilkenny are not at Limerick's level at the present time

I think '04 was Waterford's best chance. We got past them in the semi, but if Mullane hadn't been sent off in the Munster Final and been available to line out against us, it might easily have been a different story.

Meeting Cork then in the All Ireland final, after already beating them in the Munster...

You're making no sense at all there. While it's true that Sides as good as Limerick pay no heed to history as they walk over team after team. that in no way whatsoever negates KK/Cork/Tipp history.

Referring to that history as one of the all time GAA nonsenses is pure idiocy. Between them they have 94/132 titles.

I don't believe there is a lack of regard for Limerick as a great team. It's just that the suspicion will always be there that without the bankroll, they'd still be also-rans.

Whereas the aristocracy would rather be broke than admit to being nouveau-riche.

Limerick are like Man. City in that sense, buying success.

"KK were a far inferior team to Limerick in 2019, but they caught them brilliantly on the hop in that opening 20 mins or so and managed to get over the line from there. Limerick are way past the past the point of being caught like that now."

Were Limerick not just 10 points down at h/t in their last game. Also I disagree that they were caught on the hop by KK in 2019. It would surely not have been a surprise that a Brian Cody KK team would absolutely tear into them like rabid dogs in an AI semi-final. They look nailed on winners, but a thin glimmer of hope for the opposition might be that there can be periods of games where they are below their normally superb par like the first half v Tipp, a lot of the second half v Cork, leaving Galway in the game even into injury time last year in spite of being comfortably the better team.

Can you explain the role of money in Limerick’s success? Not sure how it works in the Manchester City sense. Limerick don't have the capacity to purchase players from outside so the comparison with a soccer team isn't clear.

You keep going back in history to justify the. present. History is irrelevant and is just something pundits talk about to fill airtime.

just judge it on this year.

There is nothing any other team has shown in this years championship to suggest they can beat Limerick, maybe with the exception of the KK performance and resilience against Wexford but thats not a great wexford side and KK still have to get past Cork.

Limerick not only have a great coaching ticket but also the best first 15 in the country. They are strong all over the pitch. It would take a rare off day from them to lose. For a lot of matches they are just coasting along in second gear.

Will be interesting to see if Cork wilt against kk as usual.

The money thing is such a load of b011ix. Do you think a big county like Cork don't command a bigger sponsorship fee than a small county. Kilkenny have had Avonmore for years same goes for Kerry and Kerrygroup which is Irelands biggest exporter. Clare have had Donnelly whenever they are short, Galway have never had to worry with Supermacs around. I bet Davy didn't come cheap down in Wexford

Very few countries can be acting pius when it comes to money

It would be interesting to see the references to MacManus's money specified with regard to Limerick’s success. According to a quick 'Google' he offered to sponsor Limerick’s teams first back in 2004. Seems Iike a long time for all that money to make a difference if it's just money. Doesn't appear that they are importing a high expense manager either.

Maybe it's just that Limerick have good players and a well-organised set-up? They might get a good holiday at the end of it courtesy of their sponsor but that's not linking money to success.

It'd be good to see those who liken Limerick's success to those of professional teams flesh out the connection specifically.

Sure wasn't Daly on 95k running the academy? There's serious money being pumped into limerick and we're now seeing the results.

If your going to make statements like that then back it up with facts and figures.