Itās hard to gauge league games until you see the 2 15s named and my first thought from a Tipp perspective is we will struggle.
-our midfield pairing are honest but no silk
-Bonnar full forward mehh
-2 and 4 extremely inexperienced
-I think CON or Hego could take Dan mccormack for 0-5
Obviously I hope Iām wrong and Tipp compete but my initial instinct is not good.
Heās a loose ball merchant. Not related to casey.
Was very good. Took him a while to get going. Theyāre minding him.
Big Dogs 
Both sides are here because they want to be. Itās a good game to get for both of them. Talk of shadow-boxing, itās only the league etc is a load of me bollix. Theyāre both there to win it and will want to.
Thereās experimentation on both sides, maybe more so from Tipperary and that may tip the balance Limerickās way.
Decent team, Iād have been interested to see would SOB have started if not for the 20s Championship. Thought Fergal might get a go at corner-back and Murphy midfield again.
Is Graeme injured or out of form?
I have an inkling heās gone from the panel. Someone mentioned here last week that Kiely said he had a panel of 36 rather that 37. Could be completely wrong mind!!
Mul has hardly got a look in so far.
He looked spent last year. Hope I am wrong
I wouldnāt think Mul is the kind of fella to issue a five page retirement statement if he is indeed gone.
We might have to spring a few hall of famers from the bench tomorrow night to keep it respectable.
Will says yeāll have them in after the warm up.
We never feared Tipp
Fuck Tipperary. Every last one of them.
Four All-Ireland medals, two All-Stars and a Hurler of the Year nomination in the space of five years.
But Barry Nash, Limerickās converted corner-back, admits he came close to giving it all up after struggling to make the step up from underage star to senior starter.
āThere was definitely probably a stage where I was thinking, 'This isnāt going to work for meā,ā the South Liberies man, who briefly left the panel in 2017 tells RTĆ Sport.
An 18-year-old Nash scored five points from play in Limerickās All-Ireland U-21 title win in 2015 and started at centre-forward alongside Tom Morrissey and Cian Lynch in the 2017 U20 victory.
But he ended up watching the 2018 breakthrough senior triumph from the bench
"There was obviously a bit of hype because we had a successful enough underage.
"I came in in 2016 and I was lucky enough to be starting my first year for one or two of the games. Then in ā17, ā18 I was struggling big time and ā19 as well to try and get into the team, lads were going so well it was impossible to break into a winning team.
"But obviously my dad [Mike] would have played for Limerick and I have uncles there, Declan [Nash] as well,who would have played, all my other uncles on that side as well were great to justā¦ I suppose they would have went through stages in their career where they looked at it thinking, āI mightnāt be getting in here, is it worth staying, is it not worth staying?ā and they basically talked me into staying, [saying] āItās definitely worth itā.
"Thank God they did at the time because look what we went on to achieve.
āYou need to mature and realise that you donāt just walk into these teams. You have to work. You have to earn the respect. It is hard to take on board but it is important and it shows good resilience to stay at it.ā
Bar a brief stint at wing-back with his club, Nash had always been a midfielder or forward. But following long-term injuries to Mike Casey and Richie English, Limerick coach Paul Kinnerk made a surprise suggestion.
"In 2019 they came to me with the idea of going into the backs and I think at that stage I was kind of saying, āIām obviously not being looked at here in the forwards so itās no harm to change it up and see what happensā.
"I want to be playing so I was happy to try. If Nickie [Quaid] got injured and you wanted to throw me into goals, I would have said yeah.
"Thankfully I agreed with Paulās decision and John [Kiely]ās decision to go back there and it worked out for the best.
āWho knows, I mightnāt even be playing if the boys didnāt get injured. When the chance comes you have to take it and try and hold on to it for as long as you can.ā
After appearances in the half-back line in 2019 and 2020, Nash nailed down the number four jersey from 2021 and earned the first of successive All-Star awards. Last year he was nominated for the top individual prize alongside TJ Reid and the winner, his fellow Limerick defender Diarmaid Byrnes.
āWith the help from Paul and [performance analyst] Seanie OāDonnell, and the guys that were there, the likes of Mike Casey, Sean Finn and Richie English, all these guys giving me great advice and training me and showing me how to play the position, It really did help,ā he says.
"I found those few years I worked so hard and really earned it. When I got that start I knew then that I have to continue to hold onto the position because I donāt want to go back to the stage where I have to work so hard to get into my starting position.
āOf course, there would be times when you would like to be back in the forwards. But the position Iām in at the moment Iām very happy there and wherever the team needs me Iāll be happy to play there.ā
The skills Nash once displayed at the other end of the pitch are utilised when Limerick can build from his left-corner position. Does he expect the opposition to give him less space this year?
āOther teams set up the way they play the game. If, for example, someone pushes up on top of me then Iām going to have to find different ways of getting on the ball. Itās not going to be off short puck-out or anything like that.ā
Nash is a big fan of the split-season, having enjoyed the novelty of an end-of-year holiday to Asia. But now he is firmly back in hurling mode and relishing the prospect of Saturdayās Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Tipperary.
āLast year, we didnāt have as much pre-season work done,ā he says. "This year, we got an extra bit done during December.
"I think, from last year, we knew that if you donāt get that bit done earlier in the year, that really does affect you. Which you can see in our league campaign last year ā we were really, really poor.
āWe were definitely not happy with that last year. We go out in every competition, we want to win. If itās the league or the Munster League or the championship. I think that did stand to us this year, having that extra bit done.ā
"Itās been a good league campaign so far. Weāve gotten progressively better as the weeks have gone on.
āBut weāll be up against it on Saturday evening against Tipp. Hopefully weāll get a win there, get to a league final and get a medal under our belt.ā
Limerick are big bad bullies
Anthony Nash is a decent pundit in fairness to him.