Limerick face Kilkenny this Saturday in the Bord Gais Energy Under-21 Hurling final.
Current Limerick senior hurler Shane Dowling joined Thursday's Off the Ball to look ahead to the showpiece.
Speaking to Dave McIntyre, he said: "In the last number of years, headed by Joe McKenna, the underage in Limerick has been fantastic but unfortunately with Limerick, over time we have under-21 success, everyone refers back to the famous three-in-a-row back in the early 2000s and they would say 'what happened Limerick back then?'
"Limerick didn't drive on from then and I suppose because of that, everyone is very conscious of that. And, while getting success at minor and under-21 level is essential - you have no god-given right to go on to the senior level and go on and win stuff.
Galway's Dan Nevin and Robbie Hanley of Limerick. Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
"So I remember the night before the Munster final at under-21, I was at home in bed and I was scrolling through twitter or Facebook or whatever it was, and just saw a link to the Munster final the replay in 2011 and I didn't get to bed until about 2 o'clock because I hadn't watched the game back since.
"I watched the whole lot and I remember counting the amount of players that played in that final...five or six went on to play senior hurling.
"So unfortunately with the lads playing Saturday - not everyone gets involved in the senior set-up. It's down to the players themselves that if you have success at '21 level to drive on. That's not what's been happening in Limerick in the last couple of years.
"We've had very good underage success, albeit while we didn't win an All-Ireland minor - I think we got beat in two or three of them - the '21s have been very successful in the last number of years - very, very competitive and winning an All-Ireland two years ago so while the players are there, it's really a case of 'yeah, success is great' but unfortunately everyone has to knuckle down and bring it up another level, he added.
The full discussion can be heard here:
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