Brendan Cummins: Limerick's game especially suited to Croker

Former Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins believes Limerick's speed and stickwork makes them particularly suited to Croke Park.

Limerick plotted their route to the 2023 All-Ireland title in a slightly different fashion than previous years, shipping their first championship defeat of the decade to Clare in the Munster round robin and then being held to a draw in a dogfight with Tipperary in Semple Stadium.

They even flirted with elimination in the final round in Munster. Had their one-point win over Cork in the Gaelic Grounds gone the other way and had Tipp scored one more point to lose by five to Waterford - both of which looked highly possible with 10 minutes remaining - then they'd have been dumped out at the provincial stage.

They squeezed home by a point against Clare to seal the five in a row in Munster and then cut loose in the All-Ireland series, devouring both Galway and Kilkenny in similar fashion, turning a six-point first half deficit into a nine point win in the finish.

"I think the game in Croke Park is played slightly differently in Munster," Brendan Cummins said on the RTÉ GAA podcast.

"I think Clare have suffered in that. In Munster, it's blood and thunder and 'we'll all kill each other'. But the stickwork and athleticism that Limerick have will kill every team in Croke Park.

"Or when they get them in Páirc Ui Chaoimh as we've seen in previous games. It's a racetrack down there."

It isn't just a matter of speed and skill but also power, with Cummins suggesting that Kilkenny were unable to keep up with Limerick athletically or physically as the game wore on, with the champions making hay the longer the game progressed.

"I think the interview that Derek Lyng did afterwards was very similar to Henry Shefflin.

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