John Kiely still enjoying the challenge:
By Cian O’Connell
In Limerick, talented hurlers are afforded opportunities. It has been an unprecedented era of success at senior inter-county level.
Since the stirring 2018 All-Ireland triumph, Limerick have remained relevant. Class, consistent, and contenders. John Kiely and his accomplished backroom team remain eager to unearth new players.
So, how do Limerick, who face Tipperary at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles on Sunday in the Munster SHC, try to integrate emerging panellists? “I would always look to have a 10 percentile rotation,” Kiely explains. “You would be looking at between three or four players per year to be rotating. That can happen naturally by people retiring, by people getting injured.
“It’s healthy that there is a 10 percentile change and if you think about that, that would mean a new group every 10 years. Which would be about the goal.
“Some years you would have more than 10 percentile. And other years you might have only very small changes. But on an overall average across five, six, seven seasons, I would like to see a 10 percentile average across the group.”
For so many reasons, Kiely acknowledges the importance of affording players a proper and meaningful chance. “That’s healthy and necessary,” Kiely adds.
“Within that you are going to see lads come and go. We’ve always liked to bring in players and keep them for two to three years to get a real opportunity to grow physically, to grow tactically, to get to know everyone in the group really well and understand how everyone else in the group plays.
“You would like to think that if a player comes in he gets a really fair crack of the whip and we are not pushing them in either. Cathal O’Neill and Colin Coughlan joined in 2020. This is 2025. That’s a long time. Adam English shortly after it. I think he came in in 2021. Shane O’Brien came in two years ago. It takes time and we need to give the players time to grow. Our lads have benefited from that.”
A positive and winning environment has been created in Limerick, but Kiely acknowledges that tweaks must always happen. “It is not something that you can say is there and will always be there, it needs constant renewal, constant revisiting, especially when you’ve a turnover of people coming in and going out over time,” Kiely remarks.
“For people to grow into that culture when they come in, that takes time for it to happen. For them to understand what the standards are and what the overall value system within the group is. I think that is another element of it, that people forget about.
“You’re not just going in there to play hurling, you’re going in there to be a part of and to add to an already high performing group. That is a challenge in itself for young fellas too.”
As a manager is change difficult? “It’s a double-edged sword,” Kiely replies. “You miss the people who were there, especially when you have had them for such a long period of time.
“You do miss them being around, no two ways about that. It takes time for people to bed in and to get to know them. It takes on its own life. I must admit I have enjoyed getting to know the new people who have come in. I know the group as a whole is energised by it. We are always slow to embrace change, but as we all know it is necessary.”
Kiely took charge of the Limerick senior hurlers in 2017. It is a significant commitment, balancing different facets of life, but how much does the enjoyment factor matter for the Galbally clubman? “If you are not in there with a smile on your face, believe me, it’s not easy keep a smile on your face in the last round of the league when you are hockeyed by Wexford,” Kiely says.
“In the main, do you want to get into your car to go to training 10 minutes, half an hour earlier than you need to. That’s a great sign. If you are having fun there, if you’re having laughs, and enjoying the work and getting over the challenges.
“The injuries are a challenge, form can sometimes be a challenge, but if you’re still enjoying being there with the people that you’re doing it with, finding that the game challenges you too to be creative, to find new ways of tactically bringing a tactical challenge to the opposition or dealing with a tactical challenge the opposition is bringing to you is a huge part of the enjoyment of the game as well.
“Teams are bringing new structures. It’s a challenge to deal with those. So when you are enjoying that, that’s a real indicator.”
Nearly a decade on, Kiely is still going strong.