Kyle Hayes is one of the latest to come off the superb conveyor belt in Limerick which is increasing hopes that they might soon end their All-Ireland famine which stretches back to when Eamonn Grimes led them to victory in 1973.
But if two Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U-21 titles in the past three years are adding to the pressure, it is not being felt by Hayes or the other players bidding for glory for the Treaty County.
Hayes was only 18 when he made his senior championship debut last summer against Clare — he scored 1-1 from full-forward but Limerick went down by 3-17 to 2-16 — and while he appreciates the two most recent U-21 victories will fuel expectation, it’s not something which is weighing down the players.
"It’s constantly adding to it but as players you don’t listen to outside influences or anything like that, you get on with your own game. We work as best we can and when we get out on the pitch we express ourselves as best we can and see where that takes us.
"I was part of the only crop of (recent) Limerick minors not to win something but it was very nice to win the U21 All-Ireland, to finish the year on a winning note," said Hayes, who was speaking at the launch of the Bord Gáis Energy U-21 championship in Tipperary this week.
Hayes made his debut against Wexford in the league and was then handed his championship debut by John Kiely last June as the excellent work at underage level continues to produce a rich vein of talent.
The Kildimon-Pallaskenny clubman said that a lot of work has gone into developing strong teams in Limerick.
"There’s an academy there — Cian Lynch’s age group was the very start of it — but it’s really about hard work being put in, it’s all done in a professional manner, so there’s not much of a change from senior to U21 to underage, from 14 up it’s all regulated and planned out.
"You’re prepared from the age of 14 to play senior, obviously the training schedules and so on change, but basically it’s what you do the whole time."
Hayes, who will be 20 in July, won a Fitzgibbon Cup with UL this year, having been ineligible to play as a first year in the previous campaign, and would have been underage for a third U-21 campaign in 2019 but the competition is changing to U-20.
He is in the second year of a business degree and looking forward to a busy summer as he goes for glory at U-21 and senior level.
"There are seven of us on the senior team from the U21s, but the managers communicate and that’s a big chunk. Pat Donnelly is over the U21s and he and John (Kiely) are constantly talking over what time is needed for training and so on."
Limerick will put their Bord Gáis Energy Munster and All-Ireland titles on the line next Monday evening in a mouth-watering clash in Cusack Park in Ennis against Clare in a match will see two counties who have won five of the last six All-Ireland titles in the grade go toe-to-toe in a knockout match.
Hayes knows there will be a huge crowd at that game and it will be new ground for him as it will be the first time he goes out to defend a title as champions.
"I’ve never experienced this feeling, but we’re champions as it stands and we’ll do everything we can to defend the title.
"All teams are going to be gunning to take the champions down, but we’ll welcome all challenges, we’re confident in ourselves," added Hayes.
