Limerick star Barry Nash looks back in wonder on positional switch that saved his county career

Four All-Ireland medals, two All-Stars and a Hurler of the Year nomination in the space of five years.

But Barry Nash, Limerick's converted corner-back, admits he came close to giving it all up after struggling to make the step up from underage star to senior starter.

"There was definitely probably a stage where I was thinking, 'This isn’t going to work for me’," the South Liberies man, who briefly left the panel in 2017 tells RTÉ Sport.

An 18-year-old Nash scored five points from play in Limerick’s All-Ireland U-21 title win in 2015 and started at centre-forward alongside Tom Morrissey and Cian Lynch in the 2017 U20 victory. But he ended up watching the 2018 breakthrough senior triumph from the bench

"There was obviously a bit of hype because we had a successful enough underage.

"I came in in 2016 and I was lucky enough to be starting my first year for one or two of the games. Then in ‘17, ‘18 I was struggling big time and ‘19 as well to try and get into the team, lads were going so well it was impossible to break into a winning team.

"But obviously my dad [Mike] would have played for Limerick and I have uncles there, Declan [Nash] as well,who would have played, all my other uncles on that side as well were great to just… I suppose they would have went through stages in their career where they looked at it thinking, ‘I mightn’t be getting in here, is it worth staying, is it not worth staying?’ and they basically talked me into staying, [saying] ‘It’s definitely worth it’.

"Thank God they did at the time because look what we went on to achieve.

"You need to mature and realise that you don’t just walk into these teams. You have to work. You have to earn the respect. It is hard to take on board but it is important and it shows