I remember the exact moment Richie brought the medals into training...
Had he been standing in the Limerick manager's shoes at this stage eleven years ago, Andrew O'Shaughnessy has no doubt he would use the tools Richie Bennis had at his disposal before the 2007 All-Ireland final.
A winner in 1973, defeated the following year, Bennis brought to his players both medals in the hope that they could instill some clarity. As much as he cherished that tangible symbol of Limerick's last success, being a beaten finalist left a mark that couldn't be easily eradicated.
From a man who had scored 0-10 of Limerick's 1-21 in the county's last championship defeat of Kilkenny before this year's All-Ireland quarter-final, O'Shaughnessy realised in Bennis' warning the preoccupation with ignoring defeats those can adopt who so seldom win:
There is such a fine margin between winning and losing, and all this talk about '73, '73, '73, but nobody really talks about '74 ... it's all 1973.
22-years-old as he embarked on his county's first All-Ireland final since 1996, Andrew O'Shaughnessy was delivering on the kind of potential many felt could win Limerick championships. The scorer of 2-7 and 0-11 in Limerick's semi-final and quarter-final defeats of Waterford and Clare respectively, with the exception of Brian Murray in goal and James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick in midfield, O'Shaughnessy would end the year as the youngest of the All-Stars.
Yet, this was Limerick, and if the '94 defeat to Offaly hadn't once and for all demonstrated the feeble nature of assuming potential guaranteed anything more than heartbreak, this '07 side would need to pay close attention to Richie Bennis.
Preparing for that final against Kilkenny, one couldn't but recognise the fact that since Bennis & co had lifted the Liam MacCarthy in '73, Limerick had lost the four All-Ireland they'd played.
Celebrating the rarity of a win whilst foregoing the bigger picture, O'Shaughnessy can't readily overlook all those times that Limerick "were the second best team in the country." Problematically, it only serves to hammer home the point that "second best is as good as last. If you don't win, you're not remembered."
Succumbing to the force of Kilkenny eleven years ago and bringing that tally of lost finals to five, one gets the feeling that Andrew O'Shaughnessy wouldn't mind if he couldn't remember it either.
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Can you look back at the 2007 All-Ireland final with any fondness?
No, no, I can't. Those matches, when you get there they are so rare that you've got to make them count, and we lost.
Can you take pride in anything from that year? The three games against Tipperary?
Obviously you can take pride in the three matches of course, but if you ask anyone in Tipperary they won't take much pride in them because they didn't win. Following on from that we went to the Munster final and didn't get a medal from it, and went to the All-Ireland final and didn't get a medal from it ... and that's really how I sum up 2007.
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As tired a comparison it is for any Irish sportsperson who demonstrates tremendous desire, a relentless determination for self-improvement, and difficulty dealing with defeat, an initial laugh at being likened to Roy Keane doesn't discredit the fact that he and O'Shaughnessy shared a lot in common.
Characteristics that shaped the incredibly gifted hurler he became, the Limerick corner-forward doesn't hesitate to acknowledge the influence Cork had in making him who he is either.
Thanks in part to the "culture ... and great underage structure" he experienced with his club Kilmallock, O'Shaughnessy "went to school down in Cork, so I suppose that contributed to it too."
The winner of 3 consecutive Dr. Harty Cups with St. Colman's College in Fermoy, from this O'Shaughnessy was propelled into an U21 Limerick side that was busy winning 3-successive All-Ireland titles of their own.
As he says himself; "That's where I get my attitude from I imagine."
"Is it a bad thing to be so preoccupied with only winning? Possibly, but at the same time when anyone plays any sport, the main thing is to win. Enjoyment comes out of winning."
While some find it difficult to fathom Keane's ability to compartmentalise one success so as to prepare for the next challenge, it is a frame of mind that Andrew O'Shaughnessy has always recognised in himself:
The sportsperson's attitude should be, in my opinion, you're only as good as your last match. You have to be striving to win, win, win until you're finished. When you look back in ten or fifteen years that's what you're measured on, and, as they say, a pat on the back is only 16 inches from a kick in the arse.
He may not have been on the receiving end of many kicks to the arse, but when O'Shaughnessy looks back on an inter-county career that emerged in light of such astounding underage success, there is the sense that a few more reasons to be grateful at senior level wouldn't go awry.
It goes without saying that irrespective of Limerick's good days and bad, the Kilmallock man remains incredibly proud of representing his county in the first place. Yet, as another crop of promising young hurlers from the county prepare for a defining game with Galway this Sunday, O'Shaughnessy can't but reflect on why the transition was never completed in his time.
Momentum played a significant role, harvested from making a breakthrough in the first place. And Kilkenny, of course, played another.
"But again, those things are few and far between. We got to the National League final in 2006, the Munster final in 2007 and the All-Ireland final in the same year."
"If we had won one of those it would have built momentum, and momentum is a powerful thing."
With an appreciation for this same dynamic as it plays out in other sports, O'Shaughnessy is all too aware that "if you don't make that breakthrough you'll die away ... you're always going to be on the outside looking in, and that is what happened with us unfortunately."
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Did you believe Limerick would win in the '07 All-Ireland final?
100% ... Even during the game after those two early goals [for Kilkenny], I still felt we could have won, because despite the fact that Kilkenny had a fantastic team ... we hurled particularly well and I think that is often overlooked.
Is that a comforting thought at all?
No. One thing I remember, standing there after the match watching the trophy being lifted, a supporter around me made one comment that irked me; 'Isn't it great to be here anyway?' It's not great to be here if you don't win ... it's not worth anything if you don't make it count.
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What is perhaps the most remarkable feature of Andrew O'Shaughnessy's relentless determination to succeed is his belief in the cause that was driving it all; Limerick hurling.
Emerging as the county's great new hope in the early 2000s, O'Shaughnessy "didn't feel burdened" by such expectations, redirecting his energy toward "the next game, and the next game after that" instead.
Like any member of the '07 panel (or Limerick panels thereabouts) who speaks of their experience, he relished their "all-in mentality, the great dedication and great determination" they shared.
While they could collectively have "hurled with their heads" a little more efficiently, O'Shaughnessy's regrets that things didn't go quite to plan for Bennis' team are scarcely rooted in self-interest.
Would he have liked to lift the Liam MacCarthy in 2007? You better believe it. But in his excitement for the team John Kiely has established eleven years on, you can tell that a win on Sunday would go some way toward alleviating his own sense of disappointment.
Limerick is the common bond that he wants to see succeed.
Give him another opportunity at it, and Andrew O'Shaughnessy is certain he would thrive in the modern game. Although only a handful of years removed from inter-county hurling, he recognises the changes - and absolutely loves them.
"The commitment is unbelievable, the preparation and attention to detail ... they have every angle covered."
Whereas he acknowledges in the past many players sounded off about best practice, but didn't "follow through on it, the inter-county lads in this day and age really back up their words. They mightn't get the outcome they want, but they're giving themselves every chance."
A feature of Kiely's Limerick that he has witnessed time and time again, their drawn game against Cork in the Munster championship proved to O'Shaughnessy what is capable when this kind of mutual trust and determination are apparent.
They showed tremendous character in the game down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh when they went down to 14 men. Especially considering it was in Cork, and them being such hurling traditionalists. To go down into their new stadium, with 14 men from so early on and to put in a performance like that.
When the fixture was repeated in Croke Park for the All-Ireland semi-final, the opponent was irrelevant in O'Shaughnessy's mind. This Limerick team had what was needed.
"I was sitting up in the Cusack stand, and with 62 minutes gone and Limerick 6 points behind, a few fans around me were saying, 'Jesus, it's gone, it's gone.'"
"But I just didn't doubt it. They hurl with such confidence, and even when they're down they still seem to do the right thing and take the right option."
At 33-years-old, in more fortunate circumstances O'Shaughnessy may well have found himself playing a more integral role in Kiely's team than watching from the sideline.
Among a number of players sacrificed by Justin McCarthy as Limerick hurling came to its knees in 2009/10, that the corner-forward had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis around the same time scarcely helped matters.
Although the rumoured correlation between his diagnosis and departure from the panel is false, his mistreatment (and the mistreatment of others) by McCarthy and the county board left a sour taste. When the chance came to return to the panel under McCarthy's successor Donal O'Grady, the spark was already gone.
One of Limerick's finest, most exciting hurlers of a generation would not be taking the call. Andrew O'Shaughnessy was 26.
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Who of the current Limerick team has really stood out for you?
Graeme Mulcahy, my club-mate, has been super all year. I don't think he has finished a match this year but he has given every last sinew of his body working hard, and if you have every player who comes onto the field working as hard, then there shouldn't be a question about it.
As one of the older members of the starting XV, what do you think has changed for him?
A few people are saying to me, 'Oh Graeme is having a great year.' But he's always been that good, it's the quality of balls coming in that has improved. People forget that it's a team game. Too many Limerick teams in the past were hitting these 'Hail Mary' balls up to the forwards, and people would be thinking, 'Jesus, take the corner-forward off he's winning no ball.'
But look at Graeme, Aaron Gillane and Seamus Flanagan this year. They are doing superb work because of the balls being played into them.
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There is nothing left for Andrew O'Shaughnessy to do about the disappointment of 2007. Informing him that I had been in attendance at that final eleven years ago, his response is funny, but somewhat upsetting all the same; "Oh, so was I, you probably had as much influence as I had."
Scoring 0-7 that day, only Kilkenny's Eddie Brennan ended up contributing a higher tally. But you know what he means.
Hopeful that Limerick can finally put thoughts of '73 to bed and look toward turning this team so packed full of potential into serial winners, should Declan Hannon find himself lifting the Liam MacCarthy cup on Sunday evening, Andrew O'Shaughnessy reckons such a breakthrough moment could spark the momentum Limerick desperately need.
As for Hannon himself, O'Shaughnessy identified a player he holds directly responsible for the kind of accurate, clever passes that he himself would love to be on the receiving end as a corner-forward.
Should he top his finest year in the Limerick panel off with lifting the cup, Andrew O'Shaughnessy sees no reason why he wouldn't "retire there and then ... go off and buy a horse."
