Joe Canning has seen up close the buoyancy of Limerick supporters which has been created by their hurling dominance over the past three seasons.
This season, Limerick are aiming to make it four consecutive All-Ireland hurling title wins, and are very much the favourites to do so.
'Nobody's done five in-a-row in the hurling yet'
"As people are saying to me in Limerick, they're thinking about six in-a-row nearly already," said Canning at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy's It's Anyone's Game campaign.
"I've lived there for the last few years, there's people coming up to me going, 'Six in-a-row!'. Nobody's done five in-a-row in the hurling yet nevermind six in-a-row.
"Obviously that's supporters' talk, that's not obviously players or the management. The supporters are giddy enough alright.
"That's really tough as a player then to not listen to that or hear it and get into your mind. I think that's the toughest part for management and players is listening to supporters and family and stuff telling you you're great and you won't be beaten. 'Nobody will get within 10 points of you' and stuff.
"That's a really tough place to be as well. All the other teams are gunning [for you], they're getting a chip on their shoulder in a way to try and beat Limerick because people are saying they're no good and Limerick are the only team that's going to win.
"Clare. Kilkenny. Galway - last year. I actually think it's going to be a much more open championship than people say."
17 April 2023; Pictured are Bord Gáis Energy ambassadors Gearóid Hegarty and Joe Canning at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy's 'It's Anyone's Game' campaign to promote inclusivity in hurling. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
How Limerick can be beaten, the Galway legend isn't exactly sure. Though, he would like to see a team play an old school three-man full-forward line against John Kiely's side to see how they'd deal with it.
"It's a very hard thing too. Nobody has done it in so long [in the championship]," said Canning.
"But probably for me, I've said it before, I'd push up on the whole lot and just go all out attack and see how you go. I'd love to maybe play three in the full-forward line and just pump ball in as quickly as possible and see how it goes. Will it work? Maybe not. Probably not. They'll probably have another answer for that.
"Go back to Tipperary in maybe a Munster final a few years ago down in Páirch Uí Chaoimh, I think they were 10 points up at half-time by just going long, long, long and they got great results out of it.
Sensational finish by Brian Concannon! There's a real Joe Canning 2015 Leinster final goal vs Kilkenny energy to this.pic.twitter.com/a7RRFYYAwq
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 3, 2022
"Even Brian Concannon's goal here last year in the semi-final, it was just a ball straight in long. He caught it, bang, goal. I think there's little bits and pieces but can you do that over a sustained period of 70-odd minutes? It's very difficult. But why not try it?
"I think everything else has nearly been tried at this stage or the same thing has been tried in a lot of cases. But one thing's for sure, eventually they're gonna be beaten. If that's in the near future, I don't know."
As part of the campaign and to celebrate extending its sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship until 2025, Bord Gáis Energy, is giving people from around Ireland the opportunity to win prizes throughout the season. Visit www.bordgaisenergy.ie/home/bge-gaa for competition details.
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