Limerick captain Declan Hannon says that there's "a great hunger" within the camp to keep delivering All-Ireland hurling titles after they clinched their third Liam MacCarthy in a row with victory against Kilkenny on Sunday.
Hannon has now won four All-Irelands as captain of the Treaty County, but this was perhaps the hardest earned.
The 29-year-old Adare man admitted his side came under "savage pressure" at Croke Park as roasting temperatures and the Cats' sheer desperation to win made for a pulsating encounter.
Ultimately Limerick saw it out, and Hannon was left overjoyed.
"It was unbelievable," he said. "The intensity of the game. I don't know what it was like to watch but on the field it felt like a real physical game, ebbing and flowing.
"The crowd were in it from start to finish. Maybe the last few years we built up leads, maybe the games were over earlier. Even the noise, having a full house at Croke Park, you’d miss it so much. We thought last year the noise was good but it was an extra level today.
"The three-in-a-row for the group is a serious achievement. The standard of hurling in the country is amazing and to be able to back it up year in, year out is a testament to the lads and the hard work and the hunger I suppose that's still there in the group.
"It would be easy to roll over and say, 'ah we have enough, let somebody else do it'. But there's a great hunger there to drive on."
Limerick were without the injured Cian Lynch but such is their immense strength in depth, they got the job done regardless.
However, Hannon played down suggestions that scalping Kilkenny in a final was key to laying down a marker that they are now building a dynasty.
"I don't know, All-Ireland finals, if we're there... sure we don't choose who we play. Whoever it is, we have to beat them. Kilkenny are and have been, and probably still are, the kingpins of hurling.
"I suppose for others who have questioned Limerick over the years, that they haven't beaten Kilkenny to win an All-Ireland, maybe it will quieten a few people that way. But for us, whoever we're playing it's about trying to give a performance to win the game.
"We’ve learned a lot from Kilkenny, the way they play and the sheer intensity they bring to games, it’s relentless stuff from them - the physicality and obviously the skill they have it was never going to be an easy game today. Lads are just knackered at the moment but they enjoyed it as well."
Reflecting on his own personal record of success as the first man to lift Liam MacCarthy four times as captain, Hannon added: "Look, it's a nice achievement to have but it's funny as a player, your job is to a job for the team.
"Individual accolades or anything like that are not irrelevant but when you're still playing they kind of are.
"I'm overjoyed for the group and for everyone winning. Obviously it is a nice piece of history for me but it is always about the group and it has to be about the group. Otherwise we wouldn't be where we are."
