I was wrong about Kilkenny but Limerick have gone to another level

We have reached the Alliance Hurling League final and the first thing I need to do is admit I was wrong.

I made a comment that, of the top five teams in the country, four would be from Munster. I probably had Kilkenny outside that bracket and based it on what I saw of them early doors this year, with a new manager, players gone from last year and a new system.

I don't know why I ever doubted them, I lost enough to them over the years to do that. As someone once said, admitting you are wrong is just another way of saying you are wiser today than yesterday, so I'll go with that.

What the league is brilliant for is giving a window to the lesser known players to announce to the wider world that they're good enough to compete at this level. As a player starting on that journey, it's a magic feeling flicking on the highlights show of a Sunday night and maybe hearing your name mentioned or them showing one of your scores.

Players won't admit this while playing but it's a great buzz and if you're from a smaller club like me, where you could count on one hand the amount of inter-county senior players we've had, it's also a magical feeling for your club members going to a national final and seeing your club's name on the programme. It's a great sense of pride for so many and some players will feel this for the first time on Sunday.

So it's a rematch of the 2022 All-Ireland final, Limerick, the best team in the country, facing the last side to beat them in a knockout championship game. The vast improvements Kilkenny have made round by round have been impressive to say the least.

I was down in Nowlan Park on 12 February for their round 2 clash with Tipperary. It was not good viewing from a Kilkenny perspective as we beat them for the