Former Limerick defender Séamus Hickey has stressed that any mention of a possible historic All-Ireland five-in-a-row simply will not be allowed to seep into the Treaty dressing room.
The 'drive for five' has only been attempted twice before in hurling, Tipperary pulling up the handbrake on both occasions against Cork in Munster in 1945 and in the 2010 final against Kilkenny.
John Kiely’s side will attempt the feat in 2024, with that challenge set to be the main plotline of the championship, but Hickey said that such noise will be blocked out by the main characters.
"It's not real until it happens, and especially in the dressingroom," said the GAAGO pundit. "Something that's not real, doesn't really come to bear until you have dealt with it.
"For argument's sake, at the start of the year, they will set out their goals. They'll set out their long-term one, they'll set out their intermediate ones for each competition - for league, Munster and please God [the All-Ireland series].
"Your ultimate goal is always the same, and it's the same for every team. It's the same for Carlow, same for Dublin, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Waterford. You break it down into the bitesize pieces every year because you cannot win Liam MacCarthy in January.
"From that perspective, it does become quite mechanical in an inter-county setup. Your year goes through the same patterns and rhythms.
"The positive side for Limerick is that they have such a strong continuity on leadership - John Kiely, Paul Kinnerk, Joe O'Connor is back in there, which to me is a real positive sign because losing Caroline Currid, to me, would have been a loss.
"Joe has been with that group of players before and he's a top notch professional when it comes to performance. Because that leadership team is established and hasn't changed, they won't change their framework of thinking.
"I guarantee you, from knowing John and Paul, that's not how they think; to introduce something different into what is already a really well-established rhythm in the team. That's why I can say with a lot of confidence that it's not going to be discussed in there."
"That's why I can say with a lot of confidence that it's not going to be discussed in there."
Hickey points to the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final loss to Kilkenny as further proof, and is adamant that such mistakes would never be allowed to happen again.
"At different times, you are going to have to interact with it [being asked about the five in a row]. I'm on the other side of it now where when you're talking to guys about these things, you get the textbook response. You get the rehearsed [line] from the PRO, 'this is what you say when you get this question'. That's a survival tactic because they are trying to deflect external noise.
"That's something they would have been very good at as a group, starting way back in 2017 when John came in. They are big on tuning out the external noise and you can see the benefits of that.
"The last two league campaigns and Munster championships have been fraught with adversity. If you do start listening to what's said around you, because there were a lot of people worrying and panicking about that Limerick team at the different stages of the last two years, you start bringing that in and it does affect how you prepare, and it does affect how you perform.
"Some people point to the All-Ireland semi-final of 2019 as a time when maybe the mix wasn't right there, where everyone said, 'let's coronate them now'. They were tripped up."
Limerick’s options next year look set to be boosted by the return of defender Seán Finn, who was ruled out of the majority of last season’s championship after picking up a cruciate injury the Munster group clash with Clare.
"It happened in April. So throw out the recovery time of nine months for a cruciate...Sean Finn is superhuman. I'd be amazed if he's not hurling in January, and I mean training.
"For me, he's a realistic bet to feature at the end of the league, maybe at the end of February.
"If you're talking about leadership, standard setting, for me he's an exceptional character. It's amazing how he takes care of himself away from the field.
"The last time he did his cruciate, he came back like Sheamus from WWE. I have no idea what's going to happen now. If puts another load of muscle on top of what he already has, he's going to be a brick wall. That's the nature of the dude he is."
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With the likes of Barry Nash returning as well as Richie English, who picked up a serious injury prior to the All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny, Hickey expects to see a fired-up Treaty side to take to the pitch for their league campaign – bad news perhaps for Antrim who travel to the TUS Gaelic Grounds for the Division 1B opener on 4 February.
"The reality is that the league should be a Royal Rumble in the Limerick dressing room of fellas looking for spots. They are hard earned.
"I would argue that in the Munster championship, the impact off the bench wasn't what it needed to be, and was what made Munster quite difficult."
