Former Kilkenny player Eddie Brennan reckons it is still too early to view All-Ireland hurling champions Limerick as the greatest of all time.
The Treaty County successfully defended their title with a dominant 3-32 to 1-22 victory over Cork in Croke Park on Sunday.
However, Brennan, who won eight All-Ireland with the Cats between 2000 and 2012, has highlighted the obstacles to simply proclaiming Limerick as the greatest team to have ever played the game.
Brennan joined Joe Molloy and Jamesie O’Connor on Monday’s Off The Ball and remarked: “The whole comparison thing amuses me from time to time, because if you look back - it’s very hard to compare the generations.”
“Hurling is evolving all the time, so it’s very hard to quantify, given how hurling has changed even in the last five years.”
“What Limerick have achieved - winning back-to-back - is huge, since the last team to do that was Cork in ‘04 and ‘05, and outside of that, it’s been a very difficult thing to do.”
“In terms of that performance, which has been the springboard for this conversation: Tipperary have put in big performances in All-Ireland finals and it came unstuck for them in the aftermath.”
“I think what John Kiely has to work on now is keeping them focused.”
"All the ingredients are there for Limerick"
Meanwhile, O’Connor has pointed out that the path is clear for Limerick to become the undisputed superpower in hurling for the next few years.
“Tipp are in transition - Brendan Maher has retired; are more of those Tipperary players going to go?”
“Joe Canning is gone in Galway; TJ [Reid] and Richie [Hogan] are the wrong side of 30, and again, Kilkenny are arguably in transition as well.”
“So, if you were sitting there from a Limerick perspective, you’re thinking ‘we’re so far ahead at this point in time’.”
“Now they’ve got Cathal O’Neill and all these young players who are bursting to do whatever it takes to get a taste of this, and a manager who wasn’t afraid to drop Aaron Gillane for the Munster final, so he won’t shirk making the hard decisions.”
“All the ingredients are there, and I just have massive admiration for John Kiely and his management team.”
Liam Cahill approached regarding Tipperary hurling vacancy
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