Finn: Nothing inevitable about Limerick's championship season

Limerick defender Seán Finn has said that there is nothing inevitable about how the 2023 championship season will pan out as they chase a first Division 1 title in three years when they face Kilkenny at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Easter Sunday.

Regardless of how that game goes, Limerick will enter the championship as favourites to retain the Liam MacCarthy Cup, with some expecting even more than that from the side.

Writing in his newspaper column earlier this week, former Antrim forward Johnny McIntosh said that it "already seems inevitable" that John Kiely's side will not only retain their crown, but also complete what would be a historic five-in-a-row in 2024.

Such talk is par for the course given the incredible success of the team in recent seasons, but for Finn, keeping predictions like that out of the Treaty changing room is a very easy assignment.

"It's a simple answer, we take it game-by-game," was his response when asked how the team dealt with such hype.

"We look at last weekend, we had the Tipperary game. This week and next week, we have the Kilkenny game. We don't look too far ahead and we try to be the best we can for each game we're preparing for, and hoping we'll get a gradual improvement then as the games go on through the summer.

"So yeah, take them all as they come and try to be the best we can, week on week."

It’s next weekend’s opponents who have provided the chasing pack with some optimism after last year’s All-Ireland final.

Kilkenny posted 2-26 – enough to win most deciders – as they lost out to Limerick by just two points in what was Brian Cody’s last game in charge.

Finn hasn’t been surprised that the succession plan is working well with new boss Derek Lyng getting his side firing despite missing some of their