If championship is conducted by examination, the league is more continuous assessment with the proviso that no one can be sure from week to week, what exactly is being assessed.
As a diversion it works reasonably well. When the season is up and running, the novelty of it all means that the crowds turn out. These days against a backdrop of hitherto unparalleled bouts of cabin fever, stretching back to the previous July, the appetite is there.
Last weekend saw big attendances in the TUS Gaelic Grounds and Kilkenny and two interesting matches. That might strike some as a bit of a reach when it comes to Limerick’s dispatch of Clare – six-point defeat as euphemism for 20-point hammering – but this reunion of the two star turns of the last Munster championship was full of reference points.
The return of Cian Lynch with his associated wizardry was obviously significant and taken in tandem with Peter Casey’s restored sharp shooting after rehabilitation of a serious injury, it illustrated the natural room for improvement that Limerick have compared to last year.
Clare also had a restoration project in Aidan McCarthy, who missed 2022, and he assembled a massive 0-13, including four from play, which was welcome even if that more or less exhausted the good news for Brian Lohan.
Teams as dominant as Limerick write their own rules for the league. On track for four successive All-Irelands and a fifth in six years, John Kiely’s team decide what they want from the spring competition and plan accordingly.
Since they first regained the MacCarthy Cup in 2018, Limerick have, like the rest of hurling, had to cope with five different close seasons. The current one is slightly extended on last year’s, which ran August, rather than July, to April.
It is likely however that John Kiely’s views won’t have changed enormously from just over 12 months ago when he outlined his approach to 2022 as, “ ... being aware of what’s needed at a particular time and sticking to the plan rather than responding to outside pressures ... like losing the first two games of the league.”
They lost the first three fixtures, including to sides like Galway and Cork, who might be able to feed off such a victory.
That Division 1A table from last March makes interesting reading. Aside from Offaly, one of the developing counties whose presence removes any jeopardy from the relegation process, the bottom two teams were Limerick and Clare.
Later that summer they would between them beat all of the teams who had finished ahead in the table.
This year Limerick have started better. They have been dominant in the first half of both their opening fixtures, against Cork and Clare. The first day they appeared to “declare” like a cricket team and got run out of the result by a big finish.
Last weekend, they didn’t however take the foot off the pedal until the last 10 minutes, which was enough to shrink the margin but not affect the outcome.
The relationship with Clare is complicated. Close neighbours, there is always a sense that their matches have a volatility, which defies easy categorisation. Players grow up cheek-by-jowl, attend the same schools and colleges.
Last year Clare had the distinction of not losing to Limerick in three matches over 70 minutes – drawing the league and championship round-robin encounters and losing narrowly in extra time at the Munster final.
Did that irk Limerick? The league after all is ideal for punishment beatings. In Dónal Cusack’s memoir, Come What May, he recounts the aftermath of a walloping Cork got in 2009.
“Henry came into the square after the final whistle and shook my hand. He looked me in the eye and most of what he was saying to himself was, ‘There you go now, Cusack, 27 points. Take that home with ya.’ He knew. I knew.”
Clare will be better with everyone back but they didn’t set out to tread on a landmine at the weekend. They have the advantage of continuity at a time when there is so much churn in other counties, including a 60 per cent turnover in Munster.
The fact remains that if Limerick win the league, it will be because they have decided that such a conclusion is in their best interest.
If anything, the team look stronger in general beyond the return of Lynch and Casey. One consequence is that Kyle Hayes can revert to wing back, considered his best position, if that is where Kiely and Paul Kinnerk see greatest benefit for the team.
Cathal O’Neill is a year older and commanded sufficient confidence to be held back from the under-20s last year much to manager John Kiely’s irritation at the time. Shane O’Brien was also impressive on Saturday and is regarded as being high potential.
Clare will be better with everyone back but they didn’t set out to tread on a landmine at the weekend. They have the advantage of continuity at a time when there is so much churn in other counties, including a 60 per cent turnover in Munster.
It’s also been changeover time in Kilkenny but Derek Lyng looks to have a rebuild project on his hands rather than the acquisition of new furniture and a lick of paint.
Embracing the short game is a necessary update for the county and the new manager emphasised the need for patience. “I said to the players I don’t mind mistakes. We are going to have to break a few eggs and that’s the reality of it.”
When Lyng was a player, he played in 2009 when Kilkenny completed their four-in-row. That was only the second time in history that had been achieved after Cork in the 1940s.
Within 14 years, Limerick are on course to become the third county to achieve that distinction – along with its invitation to make further history next year.
What if anything stands in their way? The league allowing for its false trails, is so far not providing any plausible suggestions.
