Limerick manager John Kiely hailed his players' "appetite and enthusiasm" after a ruthless dismantling of Cork in their big Munster SHC round-robin showdown on Sunday.
A massive arm wrestle was anticipated between the two most fancied teams in the country, but Limerick made it a one-sided affair with a ruthlessly powerful performance.
The Treaty laid down a marker in a 3-26 to 1-16 victory at the TUS Gaelic Grounds, and Kiely was pleased with what he saw.
"Delighted with our win and the performance first and foremost," he told RTÉ Sport.
"The lads worked really hard. We hadn't a great league from a consistency point of view.
"We had a lot of injuries, but we saw it as an advantage, because it meant we had to delve into the group as a whole.
"Some of our players came out of the league with very little game time but we had a great camp and everything started to fall into place very quickly.
"We've had a great 10 weeks. Lads have worked really hard. They're very fresh. They just have that appetite and enthusiasm for the game back again.
"That's all I want for these guys is to enjoy their hurling and enjoy days like today.
"We just really put our bodies on the line and grew in confidence as the game went on in that regard.
Highlights: Limerick 3-26 Cork 1-16
"We have made a lot of progress. There are other guys on the panel now that need to take their opportunities as well now and keep the pressure on the lads for their places."
Cork boss Pat Ryan had no complaints.
The Rebels just weren't at the races, with focus now switching to an enormous encounter with Waterford on Sunday.
"Limerick were at a higher pitch than us," said Ryan. "Their work-rate was way higher than ours. They bossed the game from the beginning.
"We'll try and put this to bed now and move on to Waterford next week. That's probably winner-takes-all with who comes out of Munster. So it's a great chance of redemption for our guys.
"It's up to our lads now to show a bit of character. We're back in front of our home fans at Páirc Uí Chaoimh against Waterford so that's going to be huge game. We'll be ready to go.
"We'd a big travelling support today and we owe it to them to put in a better performance."
