Tom Morrissey said all the background noise surrounding Limerick's match-up with Cork at the weekend was just that.
For weeks the reigning All-Ireland champions have experienced heavy scrutiny for their poor performance during the league, resulting in numerous rumors flying around the camp.
Many people were beginning to speculate that there was much unrest in the camp and that some players no longer wanted to play for the team.
Following Limerick's narrow one-point victory over Cork, which will now see them back once more in a Munster senior hurling final, Morrissey addressed whether or not the team felt pressure coming in the game considering a win was needed to keep the reigning All-Ireland champion's season alive.
“To be honest, it didn’t really play on our mind, I think I speak for the whole panel that was involved, we get excited with games like that. It doesn’t affect us that we might be out but knock-out hurling does excite us and gives a bit of an edge to a game.
“We weren’t focusing on the negative side of knock-out hurling, we relish that challenge, we love it. These are the days you play for. You train so hard and I don’t think you let the negatives seep it.
Tom Morrissey On Social Media
Limerick's season so far has been heavily plagued with negativity coming from social media and the media in general. The majority of posts this season that mention Limerick have been negative and full of scrutiny, with rumors flying around left, right and centre about the team.
Speaking after the Cork game, Tom Morrissey said how he doesn't take notice of what is being said outside of the team. He said that he has now even tailored his social media to block out certain words from appearing on his social media feeds
“Look we’ve been around the block a long time, we’ve a lot of experience in that. Maybe each player might be different, I don’t delve into it that much (outside talk), I don’t really come across it that much.
“I talk to Richie English and he’s a man who tells me you can block all words on social media so you can be sure I have ‘Limerick’, I have ‘hurling’, I have all other opposition teams blocked on Twitter and stuff, so I don’t really see much of it, to be honest. There are ways to shelter yourself from it. You can talk about what you want to talk about, we have business to do and that’s what we do.”
Diarmaid Byrnes Comments
Tom Morrissey wasn't the only Limerick player to talk about the current noise which has surrounded Limerick this season. Man of the match Diarmaid Byrnes was quick to highlight how people and the media need someone to pick apart and analyse.
''The pundits have to come up with something to write about and unfortunately, it is us!'' he said.
''People talk, the media talk. They need their reference points. They need something to talk about. They need their likes and shares on Instagram and Twitter.''
Limerick will compete for a fifth consecutive Munster final in two weeks time.
