Aaron Gillane talks Caroline Currid, squad depth & League Final

Limerick face Waterford in the National League final this Sunday looking to bridge a 22 year gap since their last victory in the competition against Galway in ’97.

Limerick’s All-Ireland journey seems to have rejuvenated the county with confidence brimming from John Kiely’s side.

One player who has made considerable strides in the past two years in Patrickswell’s Aaron Gillane who has transformed himself into one of the premier hurlers in the country.

Speaking at Wednesday’s League Final launch, Gillane reflected on the impact of Caroline Currid who recently left her role in the set up and was replaced by Galway’s Tony Og Regan.

“Caroline was great too. Obviously we’ll miss her, she was with us I think two or three years. She got on with everyone and everyone had great time for her.

“She was a great outlet if anything was playing on your mind or if there was anything you wanted to talk about going out playing a big match, there was no point going out on the field being bundled up worrying about things so I suppose Caroline just enabled us to go out and play with freedom really.

“I think she kind of gave us confidence. That might have been something that was missing in Limerick for the last few years.

She showed us that we really are up there with four or five of the top teams in Ireland and even though she’s gone now, we still want to have that same mindset. The same group of players are there, we’re still going to try to reinforce that now throughout the year.”

Limerick’s strength in depth was well documented on their All-Ireland run with the likes of Shane Dowling, Peter Casey and Pat Ryan often the difference makers from the bench.

This Spring there has been a number of players to introduce themselves to inter-county hurling with Conor Boylan and Robbie Hanley showing glimpses of thier quality in their debut season with the county.

For Gillane, the impact of these players has benefited the panel as a whole with the competition for places at an all time high.

“Yeah everyone is available and thankfully there’s no one picked up any injuries in training during the year so everything is coming right at the right time.

Even the new players that came into the panel, they’re really pushing, they’re not just pushing to get into the 26-man panel, they’re really pushing for a starting jersey. I suppose that’s good and it’s good for the panel as well because it’s keeping everyone focused.

Everyone knows that no one is guaranteed their position so no one is taking their foot off the gas, everyone’s going full throttle at it because they know how important it is to be in there.”

For Gillane, this Sunday brings with it a trip back to Croke Park, a place that holds fond memories for this team who reached the summit of hurling at HQ last August.

“It’s great. If you have a good year, you might get to play two matches here, a semi-final and a final. Obviously, it’s the best feeling in Ireland. When you pick up a hurley when you’re four or five, you dream of playing there. 

Aaron Gillane was speaking to Pundit Arena’s Marisa Kennedy at the launch of this years Allianz National League final between Limerick and Waterford.