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When this Limerick team is highly motivated and full of energy they can beat anyone e.g Cork in round robin. When they have to do it for 5 and half matches in Munster and a AI QF they can be beaten as was the case against Dublin. Motivation and energy are the 2 key ingredients. Keeping these high with so much success for many of these players already is the conundrum going forward. A resurgent Tipp and Cork flying will make getting out of Munster more difficult. When this team was at the peak of it's powers 2021\22 peaking in July for AI Semi\Final was fine but now we need to peak in May to ensure qualification out of Munster. Motivation within the squad for places on the team will be key. Adam English was the only new player that cemented his starting place this season. More new players player need to be infused to energise the team. There is more All Irelands in this team but evolution is required.
journeyman (Limerick) - Posts: 143 - 08/07/2025 15:26:53
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the concern is that at the start of the year, there were several "newish" players positioned to start but when push came to shove we mostly went back to the old guard
Barry Murphy, Colin Coughlan for starters. Shane O Brien is a bit of a puzzle to me and I have to wonder if he wasnt carrying a knock. It was a huge surprise he didnt start either the Munster Final or the QF
Thats three right there
Granted Aidan O Connor came in for O Brien
I dont think its a coincidence that Adam English was one of our most consistent and best players all year (I would put him up there with Gillane and Lynch and was one of our best v Dublin
The Limerick way has been to give these younger players plenty of blooding before trusting them
Cathal O Neills injury was also in hindsight a blow, as I am convinced had he had been fully fit would he have been starting
Clearly management thought the older guard had another kick in them, but we looked tired and spent v Dublin - if we had more younger players would it have been different?
I hope Kiely and Kinnerk stick around, and if they do I am sure they will be more aggressive about giving some newer players more chances
If we go into the championship with the likes of Barry Murphy, Colin Coughlan, Adam English, Cathal O Neill, Aidan O Connor, Shane O Brien all starting with the likes of Stokes and O Dalaigh also pushing for places we will be competitive. And hopefully we can keep our spine of Quaid, Morrissey, Hayes, Lynch and Gillane
Next year, while we may have lost some of the "fear factor" we inspired in other teams we also wont have a target on our backs
But Munster is going to be even more competitive than ever - I think the Clare old guard will give it another twirl and they have talent coming up, Cork or Tipp will be new champions and both have young talent, Waterford are always competitive and its year 2 for their management
Yadse (Limerick) - Posts: 164 - 08/07/2025 16:23:59
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Munster will be tough next year, we have to go to Cork and Ennis makes it harder again.
As regards our team I think we still have a very strong spine in our team but I believe we currently need to find real options to step forward and refresh the half forward line and half back line. The way the game is being played now the half backs and half forwards and midfield need to be far more mobile to close space and put opposition under pressure etc. Some of our team have a lot of mileage on the clock and in my opinion can no longer last the full 70 - 75 minutes.
I honestly believe that the extra time played in the Munster final really affected these players badly and it resulted in a flat performance we got from them against Dublin
LimerickandProud (Limerick) - Posts: 193 - 09/07/2025 10:24:48
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After the Semi final defeat to Cork last year i was convinced Limerick had another All Ireland in them, but now im not sure.
I'm not ruling it out entirely but we cannot afford to stand still without new faces and real competition for places in 2026.
Basically the only new faces since 2019 to challenge for a spot are Shane O' Brien, Aidan O' Connor, Adam English and Colin Coughlan, we need more to rejuvenate the squad.
The League takes on massive significance for Limerick next season as we struggled for form heading into this Championship, and while we found it apart from the Cork game in the round robin, we never hit the heights of previous seasons.
A well earned rest and recharge the batteries for next season.
Sliothar73 (Limerick) - Posts: 5 - 09/07/2025 12:05:54
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Replying To Sliothar73: "After the Semi final defeat to Cork last year i was convinced Limerick had another All Ireland in them, but now im not sure.
I'm not ruling it out entirely but we cannot afford to stand still without new faces and real competition for places in 2026.
Basically the only new faces since 2019 to challenge for a spot are Shane O' Brien, Aidan O' Connor, Adam English and Colin Coughlan, we need more to rejuvenate the squad.
The League takes on massive significance for Limerick next season as we struggled for form heading into this Championship, and while we found it apart from the Cork game in the round robin, we never hit the heights of previous seasons.
A well earned rest and recharge the batteries for next season." Remember we went toe to toe with the two teams in the All Ireland Final.
Yes we need major surgery in certain positions
While we are not the frightening force we were, no pressure and no expectation we can still mix it with the best.
LimerickandProud (Limerick) - Posts: 193 - 15/07/2025 14:27:18
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we are facing a huge challenge
The current team is not quite good enough. Yes, we are very close and with a bit of luck could have won an All Ireland but we didnt, and our closest rivals will be better next year - Cork and Tipp have loads of young talent coming through, and Clare will surely not have as many injuries. Hard to say any of the Leinster teams will be better - We keep expecting Galway to be so and they disappoint, Kilkenny need some new blood, and Dublin will be better but still look off the top tier)
Will we be better next year? This year we had few injuries (the only exception was the likes of O'Neill and O Donovan who perhaps were not match fit, although I still wonder if Shane O Brien was carrying an injury)
So its a tough balancing act - do we go for a rebuild or do we try to mix and match, maybe be a little more aggressive on selecting youth? We tried to tweak this year, do we try the same next year?
And the big unknown is how many will call it a day?
Yadse (Limerick) - Posts: 164 - 16/07/2025 13:53:56
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Replying To Yadse: "we are facing a huge challenge
The current team is not quite good enough. Yes, we are very close and with a bit of luck could have won an All Ireland but we didnt, and our closest rivals will be better next year - Cork and Tipp have loads of young talent coming through, and Clare will surely not have as many injuries. Hard to say any of the Leinster teams will be better - We keep expecting Galway to be so and they disappoint, Kilkenny need some new blood, and Dublin will be better but still look off the top tier)
Will we be better next year? This year we had few injuries (the only exception was the likes of O'Neill and O Donovan who perhaps were not match fit, although I still wonder if Shane O Brien was carrying an injury)
So its a tough balancing act - do we go for a rebuild or do we try to mix and match, maybe be a little more aggressive on selecting youth? We tried to tweak this year, do we try the same next year?
And the big unknown is how many will call it a day?" I think a rebuild will be left to whoever takes over from JK. Given he has another year left on his term i cant see too many players stepping away from this Limerick set up. From the 2018 All Ireland starting 15 only Richie English and Graeme Mulcahy retired.
I agree Munster will be a huge ask to qualify from next year.
Sliothar73 (Limerick) - Posts: 5 - 16/07/2025 16:01:15
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Replying To Yadse: "we are facing a huge challenge
The current team is not quite good enough. Yes, we are very close and with a bit of luck could have won an All Ireland but we didnt, and our closest rivals will be better next year - Cork and Tipp have loads of young talent coming through, and Clare will surely not have as many injuries. Hard to say any of the Leinster teams will be better - We keep expecting Galway to be so and they disappoint, Kilkenny need some new blood, and Dublin will be better but still look off the top tier)
Will we be better next year? This year we had few injuries (the only exception was the likes of O'Neill and O Donovan who perhaps were not match fit, although I still wonder if Shane O Brien was carrying an injury)
So its a tough balancing act - do we go for a rebuild or do we try to mix and match, maybe be a little more aggressive on selecting youth? We tried to tweak this year, do we try the same next year?
And the big unknown is how many will call it a day?" Yes think O'Brien looked injured, did not seem to be moving freely in any game when introduced. Think we have a couple of good players coming through in the forwards/midfield like English, O'Neill, O'Connor & O'Brien but think we could do with some new blood around the middle third, not writing anyone off but we need some legs in this area. Players like Coughlan have not pushed on for a starting place, maybe O'Neill at centre back & Hayes back to the wing next year. As you say we face a big challenge
higgins (Limerick) - Posts: 257 - 16/07/2025 16:59:52
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Replying To Yadse: "we are facing a huge challenge
The current team is not quite good enough. Yes, we are very close and with a bit of luck could have won an All Ireland but we didnt, and our closest rivals will be better next year - Cork and Tipp have loads of young talent coming through, and Clare will surely not have as many injuries. Hard to say any of the Leinster teams will be better - We keep expecting Galway to be so and they disappoint, Kilkenny need some new blood, and Dublin will be better but still look off the top tier)
Will we be better next year? This year we had few injuries (the only exception was the likes of O'Neill and O Donovan who perhaps were not match fit, although I still wonder if Shane O Brien was carrying an injury)
So its a tough balancing act - do we go for a rebuild or do we try to mix and match, maybe be a little more aggressive on selecting youth? We tried to tweak this year, do we try the same next year?
And the big unknown is how many will call it a day?" It is a hard call. The defeats in 2024 and 2025 have been by narrow margins but the worrying thing is in those 5 championship defeats we have conceded 10 goals & scored 5.
That's a marked contrast to the previous 6 seasons. We missed goal chances at vital times in the 2024 semi & 2025 quarter and when you think back to Nickie Quaid's iconic block in the 2018 semi v Cork maybe what is missing is that feverish hunger that was there back then to stop goals in our net and put them in at the other end.
Overall championship goals record since 2018:
2018 F15 A8
2019 F10 A5
2020 F3 A3
2021 F8 A5
2022 F8 A6
2023 F9 A6
2024 F9 A8
2025 F7 A9
slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6492 - 16/07/2025 17:26:30
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Replying To slayer: "It is a hard call. The defeats in 2024 and 2025 have been by narrow margins but the worrying thing is in those 5 championship defeats we have conceded 10 goals & scored 5.
That's a marked contrast to the previous 6 seasons. We missed goal chances at vital times in the 2024 semi & 2025 quarter and when you think back to Nickie Quaid's iconic block in the 2018 semi v Cork maybe what is missing is that feverish hunger that was there back then to stop goals in our net and put them in at the other end.
Overall championship goals record since 2018:
2018 F15 A8
2019 F10 A5
2020 F3 A3
2021 F8 A5
2022 F8 A6
2023 F9 A6
2024 F9 A8
2025 F7 A9" What ever happened to oisin o reilly and paddy o loughlin? I know Paddy got injured but did he ever get a look in after that?
Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2441 - 16/07/2025 22:16:08
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Replying To slayer: "It is a hard call. The defeats in 2024 and 2025 have been by narrow margins but the worrying thing is in those 5 championship defeats we have conceded 10 goals & scored 5.
That's a marked contrast to the previous 6 seasons. We missed goal chances at vital times in the 2024 semi & 2025 quarter and when you think back to Nickie Quaid's iconic block in the 2018 semi v Cork maybe what is missing is that feverish hunger that was there back then to stop goals in our net and put them in at the other end.
Overall championship goals record since 2018:
2018 F15 A8
2019 F10 A5
2020 F3 A3
2021 F8 A5
2022 F8 A6
2023 F9 A6
2024 F9 A8
2025 F7 A9" on the flip side of that 3 of those 9 goals were in a nothing game v Clare
And in two games plus extra time v Cork, who seem to score goals for fun, we only conceded 2 goals total and one of those was a free
I had concerns about our FB line, I wasn't sure if Finn had recovered, and an overall lack of pace especially with Nash gone to half back
But our FB line was generally outstanding this year, in particular v Cork. it looked like management had really emphasized stopping the Cork forwards
The Dublin game was also a big outlier and for the entire team. Two softish goals for sure but apart from maybe English everybody was off that day
My take is on our day we can be as good as we ever were but we lack a little energy over the course of a season. Plus our opponents have improved. We never faced a team as potentially good as this Cork team down the years. And the effort we put in to beat them (W1, D2 this year) cost us
That Cork team will probably improve, which means we have to improve also
My one caveat is if Cork lose on Sunday, which is unlikely, but possible, it could put a big brake on them and will call into doubt again their resolve
But Tipp have also huge potential to improve so either way we will not be AI favourites next year
Yadse (Limerick) - Posts: 164 - 17/07/2025 17:44:16
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Replying To Yadse: "we are facing a huge challenge
The current team is not quite good enough. Yes, we are very close and with a bit of luck could have won an All Ireland but we didnt, and our closest rivals will be better next year - Cork and Tipp have loads of young talent coming through, and Clare will surely not have as many injuries. Hard to say any of the Leinster teams will be better - We keep expecting Galway to be so and they disappoint, Kilkenny need some new blood, and Dublin will be better but still look off the top tier)
Will we be better next year? This year we had few injuries (the only exception was the likes of O'Neill and O Donovan who perhaps were not match fit, although I still wonder if Shane O Brien was carrying an injury)
So its a tough balancing act - do we go for a rebuild or do we try to mix and match, maybe be a little more aggressive on selecting youth? We tried to tweak this year, do we try the same next year?
And the big unknown is how many will call it a day?" I think we go full tilt at winning again next year and make that the priority over any rebuild. I think we missed the Flanagan, DOD, Gillane combo this year. There is no one else on the panel that creates and moves the ball like DOD on the panel at midfield and he also gave an extra line of defensive cover that was also missing this year. Flanagan and Gillane also have such a great partnership. Maybe Flanagan and DOD were off form this year or not doing it in training and that is why they didn't see much game time but they were badly missed imo. Yes, bring youth into the panel but don't discard better players for the sake of a rebuild. Adam English is possibly the best young talent in the game and probably Limericks best player this season but he is not a link player who knits things together in defence and attack and I think we missed that kind of player. A lot of players are going to retire in the next three years so get the most out of them and play your best team.
Did we make some mistakes on the S&C side too this year too or is it just that the players legs have a lot of miles in them? I'm not sure if the prep was as spot on this year as it has been previously. Limerick looked dead on their feet against Dublin. Did we put to much effort and energy into ensuring we beat Cork in the round robin and hit our peak far too early.
Clean slate, relax, refresh, rethink and go full blooded again next year as everyone is saying, getting out of Munster next year will be a massive challenge for all Munster teams.
Fitzy01 (Limerick) - Posts: 454 - 18/07/2025 11:17:20
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Replying To Fitzy01: "I think we go full tilt at winning again next year and make that the priority over any rebuild. I think we missed the Flanagan, DOD, Gillane combo this year. There is no one else on the panel that creates and moves the ball like DOD on the panel at midfield and he also gave an extra line of defensive cover that was also missing this year. Flanagan and Gillane also have such a great partnership. Maybe Flanagan and DOD were off form this year or not doing it in training and that is why they didn't see much game time but they were badly missed imo. Yes, bring youth into the panel but don't discard better players for the sake of a rebuild. Adam English is possibly the best young talent in the game and probably Limericks best player this season but he is not a link player who knits things together in defence and attack and I think we missed that kind of player. A lot of players are going to retire in the next three years so get the most out of them and play your best team.
Did we make some mistakes on the S&C side too this year too or is it just that the players legs have a lot of miles in them? I'm not sure if the prep was as spot on this year as it has been previously. Limerick looked dead on their feet against Dublin. Did we put to much effort and energy into ensuring we beat Cork in the round robin and hit our peak far too early.
Clean slate, relax, refresh, rethink and go full blooded again next year as everyone is saying, getting out of Munster next year will be a massive challenge for all Munster teams." Caroline Currid seems to be a big loss too
Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2441 - 18/07/2025 13:27:32
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Replying To Bon: "Caroline Currid seems to be a big loss too" In fact she has been involved in ALL the All-Ireland wins. And any year she is not involved - we haven't won the AI. Coincidence?
CnocÁine (Limerick) - Posts: 17 - 19/07/2025 11:49:19
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Replying To CnocÁine: "In fact she has been involved in ALL the All-Ireland wins. And any year she is not involved - we haven't won the AI. Coincidence?" Would make you wonder alright.
Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2441 - 19/07/2025 15:18:46
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Will be nice to see Liam down by the banks of the lee Monday evening.
CorkAllIrelandChampions2016 (Cork) - Posts: 16 - 19/07/2025 22:52:41
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Replying To CorkAllIrelandChampions2016: "Will be nice to see Liam down by the banks of the lee Monday evening." Tipp stopping there on their way home?
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 16582 - 20/07/2025 18:16:14
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Replying To CorkAllIrelandChampions2016: "Will be nice to see Liam down by the banks of the lee Monday evening." Your name was a good omen for Tipp, given they were the actual All-Ireland champions in 2016.
WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2430 - 20/07/2025 19:04:10
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Replying To Viking66: "Tipp stopping there on their way home?" Taking the scenic route!
skillet (Limerick) - Posts: 1116 - 20/07/2025 19:05:35
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