Will says ye’ll have them in after the warm up.
We never feared Tipp
Fuck Tipperary. Every last one of them.
Limerick star Barry Nash looks back in wonder on positional switch that saved his county career
Four All-Ireland medals, two All-Stars and a Hurler of the Year nomination in the space of five years.
But Barry Nash, Limerick’s 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.
“There was definitely probably a stage where I was thinking, 'This isn’t going to work for me’,” the South Liberies man, who briefly left the panel in 2017 tells RTÉ Sport.
An 18-year-old Nash scored five points from play in Limerick’s 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 ‘17, ‘18 I was struggling big time and ‘19 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 just… I suppose they would have went through stages in their career where they looked at it thinking, ‘I mightn’t be getting in here, is it worth staying, is it not worth staying?’ and they basically talked me into staying, [saying] ‘It’s definitely worth it’.
"Thank God they did at the time because look what we went on to achieve.
“You need to mature and realise that you don’t 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.”
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, ‘I’m obviously not being looked at here in the forwards so it’s no harm to change it up and see what happens’.
"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 Paul’s decision and John [Kiely]’s decision to go back there and it worked out for the best.
“Who knows, I mightn’t even be playing if the boys didn’t get injured. When the chance comes you have to take it and try and hold on to it for as long as you can.”
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.
“With the help from Paul and [performance analyst] Seanie O’Donnell, 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,” 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 don’t want to go back to the stage where I have to work so hard to get into my starting position.
“Of course, there would be times when you would like to be back in the forwards. But the position I’m in at the moment I’m very happy there and wherever the team needs me I’ll be happy to play there.”
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?
“Other teams set up the way they play the game. If, for example, someone pushes up on top of me then I’m going to have to find different ways of getting on the ball. It’s not going to be off short puck-out or anything like that.”
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 Saturday’s Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Tipperary.
“Last year, we didn’t have as much pre-season work done,” he says. "This year, we got an extra bit done during December.
"I think, from last year, we knew that if you don’t get that bit done earlier in the year, that really does affect you. Which you can see in our league campaign last year – we were really, really poor.
“We were definitely not happy with that last year. We go out in every competition, we want to win. If it’s the league or the Munster League or the championship. I think that did stand to us this year, having that extra bit done.”
"It’s been a good league campaign so far. We’ve gotten progressively better as the weeks have gone on.
“But we’ll be up against it on Saturday evening against Tipp. Hopefully we’ll get a win there, get to a league final and get a medal under our belt.”
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That fucker @Bod95 at home with a bath full of sliothars
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Limerick are big bad bullies
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@caoimhaoin would not agree!
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Anthony Nash is a decent pundit in fairness to him.
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He’s spot on there tbf.
Even within Limerick, I don’t think there’s an appreciation outside the senior setup as to why those basic skills are so important.
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He has been a decent co commenter too, has plenty to offer around puckouts and defensive structures. Much better than the regular lads like Duignan the bluffer
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Limerick’s entire game plan would fall asunder if the players weren’t so skilful. Touch has to be incredible to play the way they do
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Any truth that kiely is stepping back from Principal to become VP in the Abbey? Just something I heard
The weirdos on this page came out with something along those lines.
Rent free
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True by all accounts. Only think it kicks in next Sept.
A bit more going on than that but I’m saying no more.
We’ve beat them in every meaningful game since 2016, of course we live rent-free in their heads
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There’s nothing more going on than that. Don’t be trying to stir shite
Interesting the other night to see the minors sticking to that game plan in a hurricane
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A bit more than that being the Tipp crowd resent his achievements with Limerick perhaps.
I’d be a huge fan of Kiely, he is Abbey to the core, but its a little undermining for the new Principal to have him still around the place.