Hurling championship preview: Expect the same result but hope for insanity

Hello and welcome to our big hurling championship preview.

We're going to keep it short: Limerick will win it again. Thanks for reading.

Ah, you’re still here. Fair enough, we’ll elaborate a bit so.

They won’t mind one bit but after years of famine, Limerick have become so dominant as to earn rave write-ups across the Atlantic and dull the neutral’s appetite a little.

The Treaty are hot favourites to become just the third team to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup four times in a row, and follow in the footsteps of Cork (1941-44) and Kilkenny (2006-09).

A fifth All-Ireland title in six years would match the record of that Cork side, who Christy Ring also captained to glory in 1946. Limerick would have to win the next two to surpass Brian Cody’s greatest collection of Cats.

It would be no surprise if they did.

Heading into the 2022 championship, there were tenuous reasons to suspect Limerick were slightly more vulnerable: an underwhelming league campaign, few new players breaking through, a tendency to test referees' leniency.

They won it anyway, even though two-time Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch was absent for almost all the campaign.

Their strength, skill and tenacity remained remarkable but it was the composure in possession and shot selection that kept them ahead of the pack.

Gearóid Hegarty was their only player dismissed and likely would have won an appeal for his red card against Clare if it hadn’t been because a second yellow, which meant no suspension.

Admittedly, the triumph was far less comprehensive than it had been in 2020 or 2021. Though still unbeaten since the 2019 semi-final, Clare twice forced draws (losing the Munster final in extra-time), Galway were level after 70 minutes in the semis and Kilkenny finished just two