Limerick defender Seán Finn has said that there is nothing inevitable about how the 2023 championship season will pan out as they chase a first Division 1 title in three years when they face Kilkenny at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Easter Sunday.
Regardless of how that game goes, Limerick will enter the championship as favourites to retain the Liam MacCarthy Cup, with some expecting even more than that from the side.
Writing in his newspaper column earlier this week, former Antrim forward Johnny McIntosh said that it "already seems inevitable" that John Kiely's side will not only retain their crown, but also complete what would be a historic five-in-a-row in 2024.
Such talk is par for the course given the incredible success of the team in recent seasons, but for Finn, keeping predictions like that out of the Treaty changing room is a very easy assignment.
"It's a simple answer, we take it game-by-game," was his response when asked how the team dealt with such hype.
"We look at last weekend, we had the Tipperary game. This week and next week, we have the Kilkenny game. We don't look too far ahead and we try to be the best we can for each game we're preparing for, and hoping we'll get a gradual improvement then as the games go on through the summer.
"So yeah, take them all as they come and try to be the best we can, week on week."
It’s next weekend’s opponents who have provided the chasing pack with some optimism after last year’s All-Ireland final.
Kilkenny posted 2-26 – enough to win most deciders – as they lost out to Limerick by just two points in what was Brian Cody’s last game in charge.
Finn hasn’t been surprised that the succession plan is working well with new boss Derek Lyng getting his side firing despite missing some of their Ballyhale contingent.
"We've seen the challenge they gave to us last year. And we were lucky to come out the right side of that," he said of the Cats.
"They're a really strong team, really honest and they've a really high skill-set, so we'll be expecting a big challenge and a big test next weekend. That's something we'll be looking for too, because that'll prepare us for a Munster championship."
If there is one criticism swirling around this Limerick side, it is surrounding their tendency to accumulate red cards.
In 2022 they picked up four of them and this year they’ve already had to deal with a Kyle Hayes suspension following an off-the-ball incident with Galway's Brian Concannon.
Team-mate Barry Nash has recently defended their discipline – pointing out that they’re not the only team cited - and Finn added that physicality is part of the game.
"We don't speak about it. It's a physical game, that's the nature of it.
"Things happen in games that are of a physical nature. You just try to get the balance right and try not to get drawn into it, but no, we work as hard as we can and try and play as well as we possibly can."
The Allianz Hurling League has had its reputation battered with a barrage of critical sliotars this year as its relevance and importance has been continually questioned by analysts.
Two feisty semi-finals, as Limerick reeled in Tipperary and Kilkenny gained an impressive win over Cork, has steadied the ship somewhat and Finn said it’s a medal he would really treasure despite his haul of four All-Irelands wins and three Munster titles in the championship arena.
"It's a national title. We haven't been in a league final in a number of years and maybe when you reflect on your career, they'll be medals you'll be proud to have won. So we'll give it the respect it deserves.
"We'll try to be as good as we can on the day and hopefully that'll be good enough to get a result. We'll give it complete respect, as we have this year and in previous years."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
