John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer believes Limerick’s five in-a-row steam train must be halted before it leaves the station next summer – because once out of Munster it would become unstoppable.
In 2024 the Limerick players will be attempting to achieve what no hurling team in history has managed – winning a fifth consecutive Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Limerick are one of only three counties to have won four All-Ireland senior hurling titles on the bounce, joining Cork and Kilkenny in that elite circle, but John Kiely’s men could break new ground next season.
Kilkenny were the last team to come within touching distance of the elusive five, only for Tipperary to deny the Cats a slice of hurling history in the 2010 All-Ireland decider.
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O’Dwyer, the former Tipperary hurler who retired in February of this year, believes Limerick have the weaponry required to go all the way again next season.
“If Limerick get out of Munster there is nothing going to stop them,” says O’Dwyer. “So, the earlier in the year you get to play them the more chance you have of beating them. Once they get into their stride, they’re very hard to stop.
“If we want someone other than Limerick winning an All-Ireland, I think you need to prevent Limerick getting out of Munster.”
Indeed, Limerick’s season almost came undone during the provincial championship in 2023 – a defeat to Clare and a draw with Tipperary left the Treaty County hovering over the trapdoor ahead of the final round of matches in late May.
However, Limerick’s win over Cork coupled with Waterford’s surprise victory over Tipp saw Kiely’s men leapfrog the Premier County and secure a spot in the Munster final, which they ultimately won.
“That [Waterford’s win over Tipperary] opened the door for Limerick and Limerick didn’t look back,” he adds.
“The second-half performance in the All-Ireland final was outstanding, even the second half against Galway as well; if other teams want to win the All-Ireland I think you need to stop them getting out of Munster.”
The comparisons between this Limerick team and Kilkenny’s four-in-a-row side will continue next season, though should Kiely’s team get their hands on a fifth title then it would certainly skew the debate.
“It will probably end the arguments as to which team is better, I think Limerick will win the five in-a-row and the arguments will stop but that Kilkenny team were outstanding,” continues O’Dwyer.
“[But] it’s hard to [compare] because the game has changed so much in a short period of time. If you were to put the two teams down on paper and you were to pick, I would say it would break fairly even. You’ve some of the best players of all time in the likes of Tommy Walsh and Henry Shefflin and Limerick have the likes of Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane and Kyle Hayes.”
O’Dwyer proved to be an adept hurling analyst on GAAGO this year and he will again be part of their punditry team in 2024.
And he is interested to see how his former Tipperary manager, Eamon O’Shea, will fare in his new role within Henry Shefflin’s backroom team with the Galway hurlers.
“He is an absolutely unbelievable coach and he thinks about the game differently than any other coach or manager that I have worked with,” says O’Dwyer. “It all depends on whether Galway can change the style of play to what he wants. Henry Shefflin is going to have a say in that too, it all depends on what way the two of them work off each other.
“But Eamon is unbelievable, the way he thinks about the game is fascinating, his mind is always on hurling, we’d be away on training camps and you would wake up and have breakfast at eight and Eamon is already down on the pitch, standing in the middle of the pitch visualising.
“He is very big on visualising so it might take Galway a while to get used to the way he is thinking and the way he is setting up his teams. But I think he will have a major impact with them.”
O’Dwyer doesn’t subscribe to the view that Tipp overperformed in 2023 and feels Liam Cahill has the quality in his dressingroom to make them significant challengers next year.
“The players are there,” he says. “It’s more or less the same player group for the last four or five years and we’ve been getting to All-Irelands and semi-finals and what not.
“Liam and Mikey [Bevans] are obviously a good combo and I think they got a good kick out of the players straight away. I don’t think it was overachievement [this year], they did ride the crest of a wave for a couple of months then maybe just fell flat against Waterford. I think they expected to get a bit further.”
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