Moran says NY incident will be dealt with & no reflection of the team

Although the actions of a number of Limerick players in New York cannot be condoned, the scrutiny these young men have come under since their breakthrough All-Ireland win in 2018 has reached unecessary levels.

It emerged that during the week that two players had been sent home for disciplinary reasons, the correct course of action. However, the reaction that has since followed is a bit much.

Speaking to Game On on RTÉ, former Limerick hurler Niall Moran echoed this sentiment saying that the players will learn from the incident.

“I witnessed the video like everyone else. You can’t say you’re not disappointed by it. It is disappointing and probably more so for those players, and their families and their teammates. 

“We live in an era of social media. People’s phones seem to be an extension of their hands. I’m not condoning the behaviour that happened but I don’t know the background to it. I’m not going to pass judgement on something I wasn’t there for. 

“For management teams, trying to control social media and activity around it is nigh on impossible. It is a part of everybody’s life. 

“I know that John Kiely is a disciplinarian. He has brought stability in the last three or four years. In-house, they’ll have to take disciplinary measures. And they will.

“People make mistakes and you learn from experience. In the lads’ case, they’re going to have to take their medicine now whether they like it or not. That’ll stand to them in time.

These Limerick players are the same ones that brought so much joy to the county in 2018 when they captured the Liam McCarthy for the first time in 45-years.

The scenes in late August of that year were incredible for all, with the players and management responsible for it.

Since then, the opinion of the team has altered in some circles with Moran of the opinion that some are hopeful of seeing the team implode, having experienced similar negativity when his side won three U21 All-Irelands in a row at the start of the century.

“I saw a sensational headline early on about the fairytale of Limerick being over.

“Maybe there’s an element where this is feeding a nice little storyline. This was a rags to riches story and Limerick are going to self-implode like they have over the generations. I don’t buy that. 

“If you go back to when we hurled for Limerick, unfortunately for the vast majority of my career, we were unsuccessful. We had been underage starlets, we had won three U21s in a row and we hit the tail end of a very good team who were in the All-Irelands in the 90s. 

“We were forever clouded by stories of drinking and carousing. And most of it were never true. It was heartbreaking. 

“At the time, I wouldn’t have been a drinker – though I was probably driven to it in the finish! 

Highlighting the incident once again Moran is hopeful that the players are forgiven and are able to move on and learn from their mistakes, commenting on the nature of those involved.

“One of the guys who was involved in that incident (in New York) – I don’t know the other guy personally – but that guy is a phenomenal guy. He is a brilliant guy, what he has done for his club, what he has done for his family. 

“So, I’m disappointed for their sake that this has come to light. Yes, it will be dealt with. But it’s by no means a reflection of the team and the management, and it’s no reflection on where they’re going to go over the next four or five years.”