WATCH: John Kiely “There was a strong group of players, with substantial experience”

Part 1 of John Kiely’s three part interview.

In 2018 Limerick captured their first All-Ireland Title in 45 years as John Kiely’s young side defeated Galway in the All-Ireland final.

Following the memorable campaign, a commemorative DVD was released chronicling the year as told by the players and management.

In the three-part DVD, John Kiely plays a prominent role. However, just 15 minutes of Kiely’s original audio make the cut with a further 45 minutes unreleased.

Over the next few days, Limerick GAA will be publishing the entire interview in three parts, starting on Tuesday evening at 9:30pm with parts two and three being released at the same time on Thursday and Friday!

The first part sees the Galbally man talk about his first year in charge in 2017 as he began to introduce some of his 2015 U21 All Ireland winners to the set up.

“There was a strong group of players, with substantial experience. The transitional period had already started under TJ’s (Ryan) watch, introducing some of the younger players.

“Barry Nash, Cian Lynch and Diarmaid Byrnes would have come into the team at that stage. Mike Casey and Sean Finn were starting to come in. So there was a good number of the U21 sides starting to infiltrate into the team, yet you had a lot of experience there as well in Gavin O’Mahony, James Ryan, Richie McCarthy, Seamus Hickey, Tom Condon and Nickie Quaid.

“The transitional period had commenced but it hadn’t been completed and that takes its time and has its natural processes. It just takes time, seasons to play out and let things play out.

“Looking at the players there, I was excited and I had ambitions for them to push on and become a successful side that would challenge for titles, be they league or championship titles. The ambitions were there for us and clearly in them.”

“A lot of commentary had said that not all these players from the U21 sides from 2015 and ’17 would come through and that grated with me and I just couldn’t see why not. To me that was a challenge for us to make an opportunity for them to progress through to the senior ranks.

“For the players the challenge was there to transition into the senior panel and make an impact there. So we were all challenged by that.

“I knew the players well and I was confident that we could bring a large number of them through.”

A huge proportion of the 2018 side had come through the now fabled Limerick Hurling Academy which was only introduced this century.

For Kiely, the importance of the Academy did not go unnoticed with the players gaining valuable experience from the set up.

“It was instrumental. Without it, the players would not have developed in the manner that they did. Winning at underage levels, getting to an All-Ireland final at minor, that experience is huge. The management teams over those sides not only did a fantastic job not just with their skillset and conditioning but most important of all, they produced really good people, really good guys and that for me is the real achievement of the Academy.”

While on paper, the 2017 season did not go to plan, it was a huge learning curve for Kiely and his inexperienced side.

Once again, the Treaty side failed to gain promotion to Division 1A which was followed by successive championship losses.

Nonetheless, it was an important year in the teams growth as they learned valuable lessons.

“When knew starting out how we wanted the side to play, what attributes these lads had. That takes time and we only had a couple of months when we came in before we were thrust into competition. That match came against Wexford and looking back and being honest, we weren’t ready as a group. We just hadn’t enough time to get the work done.

“That had a major knock on impact for the remainder of the league. They beat Galway the following week and that really put paid to any chances we had of earning promotion from 1B.

“That word growth, we referred to it a lot throughout the season but again it takes time. It was important to acknowledge each incremental piece of growth that was taking place in front of our eyes.

“We knew we were working extremely hard and when you are working hard, only good things can come from it.”

“In the championship we got caught with two sucker punch goals. But we ever dominated enough to warrant winning the game.

“In the Kilkenny game, we probably dominated the game, but we weren’t efficient enough. Kilkenny are notoriously difficult to beat and midway through the second half they started getting bodies back which made it extremely difficult not only to convert chances but to create them. But again it was a learning curve for all of us, myself more than anybody.

“We knew coming into this season we had to find performances of a higher level.”

Following that, Limerick began their 2018 season in St Francis’ Boxing Club preparing for a fundraiser.

At first, Kkiely was unsure how the squad would react, but it would prove to be a huge boost to the team who bonded from the experience, which was reflected in Kiely’s speech in the aftermath of the All-Ireland final win.

“They spent six weeks training in St Francis’. Ken and his group were incredible to us. They really took the guys under their wing and got to know the guys. They challenged them in ways they had never been challenged before but also offered them a release from hurling that allowed them to engage in a completely different sport. That experience really freshened the group up and brought them together.

“They really enjoyed it and going down there and that’s the key. It’s not something you could repeat every year. It’s a once off thing and it was the right fit for us at the right time.”

Limerick would finally break a nine season run in Division 1B in the Spring of 2018 as they won the second tier of the National Hurling League.

Four successive wins set up a winner takes all clash with Galway in the final group game.

Limerick travelled to Salthill to take on the defending All-Ireland Champions and trailed by eight at the break.

This would prove to be a turning point for Kiely and co. with the side overturning the deficit in a defiant second half display to earn promotion.

“We felt it, the group felt it. We were working very hard. Our performances were improving week on week and I think the confidence we got from the Munster League was very important. To lift the bit of silverware. These guys tapped into that confidence and instead of getting tired, they were getting more energy and enthusiasm.

“To win in Tullamore was a stamp for us, we had moved on. The trip to Salthill was a huge test. Playing the All Ireland champions on their home ground, the decider of the League. Galway were playing well in the first half, they were strong and were finding their scores much easier to come by.

“At half time we made a call to leave it alone, to trust the guys to take this challenge on. I think the players were grateful for this opportunity, that they had played better than the scoreline suggested and they were disappointed with the return they got. They kept chipping away and our subs played their part.

“So it was a really great team victory if you like We worked so hard that day. Post game you could sense that relief that those eight years in 1B were gone and we had something to look forward to the following Spring. I think that was a really important victory and again it gave the guys real confidence going forward. It lifted the group as a whole, management and players.”