Limerick reaping rewards for challenging 'status quo' on training

What makes Limerick such a great hurling team?

Various theories have been advanced. A generational crop of players, whose talents were carefully nurtured in the county's academy system. The leadership of John Kiely and innovative coaching of Paul Kinnerk. The composure to stick to a highly effective game plan that has yielded four All-Ireland titles in five years.

But another factor that must be considered is adaptability.

Last year's Allianz Leagues didn't begin until May due to Covid-19 restrictions. Teams weren't officially allowed to train collectively until 19 April. But a long-embedded cultural fear of being caught on the hop by better-prepared opponents led several teams to breach that deadline, including some members of the Dublin football side that had just won six in a row.

Having won Liam MacCarthy just before Christmas, Limerick would have been expected to take a longer break than most of their rivals. But there was still scepticism when corner-back Sean Finn told RTÉ that he hadn't picked up a hurley until April, had taken a long break from physical training altogether and felt the better for it.

This didn't fit with the traditional GAA wisdom that the team who reigned supreme on All-Ireland final day - in a regular calendar year at least - was usually the one that had run up the most mountains in December or January. Surely it must be a bluff?

Limerick's league results seemed to confirm a work-in-progress though: They didn't collect two points until 5 June, their fourth Division 1 fixture. But they won every single game after that and hammered Cork in the All-Ireland final come August.

This year, the Treaty had to beat Offaly on the final day of the league to avoid relegation. League kingpins Waterford were being