Sean Finn expecting a “stiff test” against Kilkenny in All-Ireland final repeat

Finn and co are looking like the well-oiled championship machine that has gone three seasons unbeaten as they prepare for a first League decider since 2020.

An All-Ireland final rematch awaits this Sunday as Limerick and Kilkenny do battle for National Hurling League honours in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Last July the sides played out an epic in Croke Park with Limerick prevailing by a pair of points to complete a historic three-in-a-row.

And following the Spring action to date, the teams look the best poised for another assault on the Liam MacCarthy as Sean Finn, speaking at the launch of Optimum Nutrition as the Official Performance Nutrition Partner of the Gaelic Players Association, looked ahead to a “stiff test.”

“We expect a stiff test, you see the challenge they posed to us last year and we expect no different on Sunday so it’s up to us to be the best that we possibly can be on the day and our focus is solely on next Sunday week and hopefully we can get a performance that will get us a result that we’re looking for.”

Despite winning the All-Ireland in 2022, Limerick’s league form left a lot to be desired as they picked up just one win in the campaign, that coming on the final day against an Offaly side that would go on to be relegated. Defeats were suffered at the hands of Wexford, Galway and Cork while they were held to a stalemate in Ennis.

Twelve months on, Finn and co are looking like the well-oiled championship machine that has gone three seasons unbeaten as they prepare for a first League decider since 2020 with the Bruff man crediting the bank of work built up prior to the new year.

“We’re going quite well in comparison to maybe our league campaign last year but maybe the couple of weeks we’ve done pre Christmas gave us a better platform to be a bit more competitive in the League this year.

“But in terms of of appetite, the competitiveness in the group is always going to keep that appetite there and it’s exciting to see young lads coming in and contribute, push the players that are currently there at the moment and then that’s when you get going to get the best out of our level in the group and as a result make the group a better collective.”

Sunday’s League final will come just two weeks prior to the commencement of the provincial championships with Limerick in Thurles to face Waterford. By the final weekend in May, the Shannonsiders will have played ten competitive games in four months with a possible Munster final to look forward to.

But Finn is happy to have games to look forward and cites the split season as an important introduction, highlighting the importance of switching off after the conclusion of the club season.

“I found it really positive as a player being able to contribute all your attention to the Limerick setup and then when that finished be able to contribute as much as you could to the club campaign. Obviously when that finished you got an opportunity to completely mentally switch off and I suppose the opportunity to go do a bit of traveling as well was there and I took full advantage of that.

“I do recognize the importance of mentally switching off because the appetite then is there when you come back in late December or January to push yourself again for a new long season because the demands are quite intense so it’s important to be mentally fresh yeah.”

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