Ever-present Nickie Quaid stands between Limerick and the Clare and present danger

Nickie Quaid has played every minute of John Kiely's championship tenure, and ahead of the Limerick manager's 40th game at the helm he remains arguably the most crucial cog in their record-chasing team.

The five-time All-Ireland SHC winner however has been more involved in recent weeks than any other period under Kiely. Heading into his 15th Munster championship, the Limerick goalkeeper carries a save rate of 53% from the Allianz Hurling League after an unusually busy campaign for him.

The two-time All-Star has saved more than half of the 15 shots fired towards his goal, with one of those conceded being a follow-up into an empty net after he saved the initial attempt.

Quaid's average goal-per-game concession under Kiely (league and championship) is less than one – 66 in 79. During his games in the 2024 league it was almost two goals per game.

The high number of shots he faced and pressure he was under stemmed largely from his team being beaten for 56% of his long puck-outs. Quaid's overall puckout retention rate during the league was 67%, with Limerick winning 48 of the 50 restarts which landed inside their own half.

Directly from the long puckouts lost in the four league games which Quaid started, Limerick conceded 2-07 with the opposition missing a further 1-07. The two goals conceded were in the league semi-final defeat to Kilkenny, who played quick ball into their full-forward line before Limerick's defensive cover could set up.

Kilkenny won five Limerick puck-outs in a row during the first quarter, scoring 2-01, which was half their total opposition puck-out wins for the entire game. Quaid retained his next 11 as Limerick regained some control, but they never recovered.

Other league games followed a similar trend, with