Waterford boss Davy Fitzgerald believes that Limerick are one of the greatest hurling teams of all time.
The Shannonsiders have won eleven major trophies under John Kiely’s watch (four All Irelands, four Munsters and three leagues). The Déise will face the Liam MacCarthy holders in the first round of the Munster championship on Sunday.
“John Kiely has a great team with him. Paul Kinnerk, Aonghus O’Brien, Alan Cunningham, I’ve worked with all those guys before. It’s funny, in Limerick’s first year, I know Paul was frustrated and thought about maybe jacking it in at one stage. They weren’t getting the results in the first year and the crowd were getting on their back but they stuck with it and it came right for them so it did. This is what I’ve always said to ye: it doesn’t happen straight away. Limerick are a testament to that. To me, they’re one of the best teams I’ve seen. That’s being straight. We had a decent team in the 90s in Clare, Kilkenny had an unbelievable team in the 2000s, now it’s Limerick. They’re right up there with any team I’ve seen playing. I’d have massive respect for them. People aren’t giving us a hope. Would I love to have a full team? I would but you know what, we’ll look forward to the challenge and have a go at it. We’ll try and play the game on our terms. I think that’s very important. If you look at the success I’ve enjoyed, which is a lot more than Clare in the All Ireland in 2013, it comes with being set up the way you want to set up and not playing it on the opposition’s terms.”
Waterford v Limerick will be the George Corbett Skoda Big Match on Sunday. Join Kieran O'Connor and Eoin Murphy for live coverage from Semple Stadium at 1.45.
Listen back to the full interview with Davy Fitzgerald from Friday's Lár Na Páirce.
