'Paranoia' over places protecting Limerick from complacency- Tom Morrissey

No empire lasts forever. Just ask the Romans. Or the Dublin footballers.

So when you have a team as successful as the Limerick hurlers, who will pursue their fifth All-Ireland title in six years this summer, the temptation is to try to spot the signs of impending decline.

They are scarce. But one thing that might have given the Treaty's rivals some solace is the fact that Limerick's starting line-up had barely changed since the first of their Liam MacCarthy wins under John Kiely in 2018. Time would bring them back to the pack.

Kiely might yet stick with the tried and tested but the performances of the likes of Colin Coughlan, Adam English and Cathal O'Neill in this year's Allianz Hurling League are surely giving him food for thought.

Ahead of Sunday's final meeting with Kilkenny, Tom Morrissey, now a grizzled veteran of almost 27, admits that the battle for a starting jersey is heating up.

"We have fairly healthy competition for places in the squad at the moment," the two-time All-Star half-forward tells RTÉ Sport.

"A lot of the lads have gotten opportunities and put their hands up that have come through with the U-20s last year and are in the panel now.

"The training matches are definitely competitive. While there's a burning desire to obviously win competitive matches against other counties like at the weekend, there's also a burning desire to win any training match that's played behind closed doors between us as well.

"They definitely get fiery and maybe a small bit over the line at times but it's all in good nature. I suppose it just shows how lads are pushing and trying to get the best out of themselves. That brings the best out of each other and your team-mates as a result.

"That's what you love to see, young lads like that