Richie power retired from injury did he not? And eoin Kellyâs back gave out
In fairness to @peddlerscross he has often acknowledged that Limerick U21âs in 2017 were the last great underage team before it changed irrevocably with the age change at minor and U21. Cian had come through as early as 2015 so heâd fit in the latter bracket with lads like Aussie Gleeson, Conor McDonald, Ronan Maher and so on.
Lynch has obviously fulfilled his potential while you could easily argue McDonald hasnât.
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Something went wrong somewhere though.
St Thomasâs won a Club All Ireland on Sunday with the same lads who played 11 years ago.
St Brigids also won an All Ireland Club in 2013 but this time they were back with a completely new, young team on Sunday.
In Football you need to evolve, in hurling you dont.
Thank god PJ invested in robotic hurlers to win at ease, shoulder fellas to death on and off the field to allow us now recognise that hurling peaked in 2014. We will look back after 25 in a row to reminisce of a time of traditional finals, am annual bout between kk and chip.
Build that statue now
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Eoin Kelly retired due to a lack of gametime.
John Mullane retired at 31 around that time too. It was too hard to keep up with the young lads.
Did John mullane not win an all star in his last year before retiring?
S&C not being factored into your calculations
Also a lot of players got a very light schedule in 20 and 21 which hindered young players And meant older lads got a big break to refresh.
Plenty of lads have retired young like Joe canning.
Paudie Maher was only 32.
Lads would be smoking fags on the sidelines and go on and just whack it up the field then⌠Limerick changed the game in 2018.
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Limerick are a great side but they have the luxury of competing in a weak province. They havenât the medals to compare with Codyâs Kilkenny, not yet anyway
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Canning was 33.
Callanan, Noel McGrath, Hoggy, Harnedy, TJ Reid, all key men until 34-37.
There was no one aged in that bracket contributing much 10 years ago.
List the best players in the game today under the headings i used earlier and compare them to the best players 10 years ago and notice the difference.
Ah they did yeah. They had kk full strength all but bate in 09 and then Benny dunne did his thing (albeit provoked)
In sports alone I would have taken an awful lot more pleasure and disappointment from my own achievements and failures and presently and will continue to do so from my kids and hopefully grandkids etc etc
But sports are only the tip of the iceberg
Jesus, if the greatest pleasure youâll ever achieve is from watching your county team win I pity you, if itâs the greatest disappointment youâll ever have then Iâll envy you 
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My recollection is that Mullane retired when Scully Ryan got the Waterford gig. Having served under him at De La Salle for a year or two he wasnât prepared to spend another couple of years of his life bating tyres 3 nights a week.
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He won two all stars in his final two seasons. Hard to accept he retired because he couldnât keep up.
Living vicariously through your kids ainât good either tho⌠but Iâm minded of the late joe player who was wheelchair bound and hurling was his life⌠Iâm sure plenty of people through differing circumstances donât have much else but sport and i wouldnât be looking down on them for it. After all , Sport has been part of human life for thousands of years and has played a very prominent part in most cultures from ancient times to now. It encapsulates the human spirit and as the great shankly once said, itâs more important than life or death. Iâve never understood men that are mot into sports⌠I donât trust them and ive never befriended one as once i hear that i usually back off and wouldnât really engage with them.
Anyway i do get what youâre saying but Iâd still have Limerick days out way ahead of the birth of my kids.
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Did you ever have success at team sports as a participant mate?
Underage bits and bobs. I wouldnât have played to much of a standard as an adult tbh⌠I was too busy getting high on various drugs from 17-20 ish⌠Then i travelled the world from 21-25 where i wasnât really in Ireland. I went back playing low level football about 27. And again about 35. I never won a Bob Bradley cup if thatâs what youâre asking.
Itâs a valid point but you couldnât go looking down on people who loves their county. Loads of people couldnât play sport for whatever reason. I donât think itâs fair for tracksuit to lay into them.
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Iâd be middle ground. Iâd far rather win a junior c specials league playing than have Galway win the AIF. Iâd rather play a junior c match than go to an AIF, but I do enjoy sport of all stripes, though I think I enjoy discussing it as much as watching it.
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