Seven-time All-Ireland winner Richie Hogan firmly believes that his native Kilkenny are the side best placed to end Limerick's five-in-a-row ambitions in 2024.
Asked at the launch of the GAAGO 2024 schedule where the Liam MacCarthy Cup would be residing next winter, the Danesfort man opted for the south-east.
Expanding on that, he said that while John Kiely’s history-chasers will be favourites as they aim to become the first side to win five hurling titles in succession, he feels that the Cats have the most scope for improvement from the list of contenders.
"Notwithstanding that Limerick are clearly favourites - and would I be surprised if Limerick win it? Not in the slightest - and they're rightly favourites, but I just think Kilkenny have the greatest capacity for improvement.
"Clare were very strong and have Limerick's number, or seem to have Limerick's number. Maybe they haven't beaten them that often, but they've certainly put it up to them every single time. I think if Kilkenny can learn a little bit from that then they should be able to get over the line.
"A few of the guys who came in last year should improve too. Mikey Carey is back, Billy Drennan should get a bit better and get on that starting team. David Blanchfield, who was a huge loss in the All-Ireland final, will be back and hopefully bigger and stronger.
"The O'Loughlins guys are hurling particularly well. Mikey Butler and Huw Lawlor are outstanding players and will get better. Mikey Butler is still only starting out his career. I think Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen have more capacity to improve as well.
"So that's what I'm basing it on. While people would have looked at Clare, I think people are looking at Clare because they put it up to Limerick. But Kilkenny have beaten Clare now twice in a row. While last year it was closer, the two of them were quite comfortable wins. They never really looked like losing.
"So, yeah, I think if Kilkenny can keep things ticking over until they get to the latter stages, the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then really focus on trying to get the best out of the group that they have...
"Now, injuries can cause issues and all the rest of it, but I just think they have the greatest capacity to improve."
While fellow GAAGO pundit Séamus Hickey argued that any thoughts about the 'drive for five’ wouldn’t be entertained in the Limerick dressing room, Hogan – who was part of the 2010 Kilkenny side caught by Tipp to end their own record attempt – took a completely different view.
"You can concentrate on what you're doing while still realising there's the opportunity to create some form of history in hurling"
"It'll definitely be a factor and it should be a factor for them," he said.
"There's this GAA or Irish kind of (thing), I don't know what it is, but there's this mindset that you shouldn't talk about these things. You can concentrate on what you're doing while still realising there's the opportunity to create some form of history in hurling.
"We hid that a little bit, I think, in 2010 and I'd say that would be a mistake because the supporters are going to do it anyway. I think it would be foolish of them not to talk about it themselves and address it and then move on and concentrate on the game in hand.
"Because clearly you can't win five in a row today, you can only win it if you get to the second or third week in July. So they won't worry about it until then, but they'll definitely address it. They should do."
It’s three months now since the former Hurler of the Year announced his retirement with a CV that most people could only dream of. That said, his 17-year career with Kilkenny wasn’t without regret.
"Looking back, I'm hugely content that I had a brilliant career. I would have loved if it was a little bit better but I think everyone is possibly like that. You possibly look at the ones that you lost instead of looking at the ones that you won.
"For me, I think because my career was the way it was, where the first ten years were filled with success, it was brilliant and then the remaining seven seasons we didn't win anything.
"And the last couple, I struggled with injury for a while but certainly the last couple I struggled with game-time as well as injury.
"If you had flipped that around, it would still be the same career but you'd feel a lot happier. If you look at Stephen Cluxton, he didn't win anything until he was in his thirties and now he's the most successful player to have ever played.
"And you see others who finish very strong and have had a huge amount of time at the start when they won nothing. It's a human thing, you look at the recent past more so. But when I reflect on my whole career I'm pretty content that I did well.
"And, also, I think given the cards I was dealt I got the most I could out of it. I would have loved to have done a little bit more, but, when I look back at the years that I had and how hard I tried to get back, and there's many times when I could have walked away, I'm pretty content now that nobody will tell me I left too soon, that's for sure."
