AT THE launch of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Series, Gearóid Hegarty was unaware who Limerick would tackle in the semi-final of a competition in which he has been a lead figure since the county’s breakthrough in 2018.
As it transpires, age-old foes Cork are next up for five-in-a-row-chasing Limerick.
A couple of weeks back, Hegarty explained that “when you start thinking about things like this, you’re taking your eye off what really matters and the only thing that matters – I know it’s a cliché – but looking after ourselves. Making sure I’m turning up to training, ready to give my all.”
The hurling hero explained that “preparation is so important. If I get on that train to Dublin on July 7 knowing that I have trained as hard as I can over the last couple weeks and prepared as best as I can, to give my all for the team, then that’s all you can do”.
“We never, and I’m sure you’ve heard it from other players, maybe from John (Kiely) in the past, its a sign of respect more than anything, we never, ever are concerned about who we’re playing.”
Concluded the soon-to-be 30-year-old: “We know every day we go out we’re going to be tested to the utmost, you know what I mean? And we just want to prepare to the best of our abilities and make sure that we’re 100 per cent ready to go to battle and see what happens after that. So we always just focus on ourselves.”
In Hegarty’s last outing (Munster Final versus Clare at Semple Stadium, Thurles), the St Patrick’s clubman was a richly deserving Man of the Match winner.
