John Kiely: Eradicating leaky defending has focused Limerick minds

John Kiely says the warning signs Limerick received during the league should do "no harm" to their championship prospects.

The Treaty had only once conceded three goals during a single game, the 2021 Munster Hurling final, since 2017 but did so on successive visits to Leeside last month.

The All-Ireland winning manager believes their leaky defending, against Tipperary and Kilkenny, could yet prove a timely alarm bell ahead of the Munster SHC opener against Clare on Sunday.

"Sometimes it's no harm to have reminders of things that you need to do," he says.

"That served as a really strong reminder to us that there are certain aspects of our defensive play that have to be in place. Otherwise, you're going to be badly punished.

"We paid a price for it but hopefully the learnings that we've had in the meantime, when we've gone back and studied them with the group, will be to the fore in our games in the coming weeks.

"It's a warning shot across our bows that we need to be very solid defensively right across the field, not just in the back six. Right across the field, our defensive work needs to be there."

A week in Portugal was the perfect pick-me-up following the disappointing nature of their league semi-final exit. Not that it fully lived up to the billing of a warm-weather training camp.

"As it happens, conditions weren't great in Portugal," Kiely chuckles. "They got a lot of rain as well but, in fairness, we were very lucky. When we wanted to train, it cleared. When it clears out there, it goes from 15 degrees to 22 degrees literally in a heartbeat.

"It wasn't what you might stereotypically expect of Portugal but we made the most of it, the boys enjoyed it, and it brings us further along the road in our preparations.

"We know we've