Kiely says fun and togetherness vital ingredients of success

The manager of the Limerick hurling team, John Kiely, says creating a sense of fun among a group of players is vital to ensuring success on the field of play.

Kiely was in the Knightsbrook Hotel recently as the guest of honour at the Kildalkey Hurling & Camogie Club presentation night.

He was a busy man as he handed out medals to a number of victorious Kildalkey teams who won honours in 2023.

Afterwards he took a few minutes out to talk to the Meath Chronicle and in so doing gave some insight into why Limerick have become so successful.

The Treaty hurlers are looking to clinch their fifth successive All-Ireland SHC title this year - a remarkable feat in itself.

"Ultimately, I suppose, if you've got a good environment, a happy environment , where people are enjoying being a part of it that's huge, " he said.

"You have to make it fun, it has to be enjoyable, people are giving up a huge amount of their time, their free time to be there and if they enjoy it they'll keep coming back.

"It's not so much about me it's about the players and having the craic among themselves, enjoying each other's company and being good friends, not just when they are training but when they are away from training, the way they support each other in all aspects of their lives. Just enjoying spending time together and being in each other's company."

Kiely's commitment to his players was highlighted on the night he appeared at the Knightsbrook.

Earlier in the evening his Limerick side defeated Dublin in a National League game at Parnell Park with Kyle Hayes among those who featured for the winners.

Kiely has since faced criticism for fielding Hayes that night when the player was waiting to be sentenced for a criminal offence.

The manager, however, was clearly determined to show his support for the player who yesterday received a two-year suspended sentence and was fined €10,000 for incidents at a Limerick nightclub.

It's about sticking together on the good days - and the bad. That sense of unity and standing as one against the icy wind of adversity.

The Limerick manager is certainly loyal to his players - and that also creates a powerful espirit de corps.

Kiely also asserted at the Kildalkey presentation night that achieving the five-in-row is not something that he or others in the Limerick camp are obsessed about.

Instead, he added, it's more about that old sporting cliche, one game at a time. One day at a time.

It's also about looking at ways to improve, to get better and better and he and others in the Limerick management and backroom teams will be working to help the players to produce a even higher standard of hurling than they have shown in recent years - which is saying something.

This Limerick team is one of the greatest in the history of hurling - perhaps THE greatest.

Kiely, for one, clearly feels the Limerick players can improve even more.

"We are more about the nuts and bolts of performance and what a performance looks like to us and we feel there's still loads of improvement within the team and within the group.

"Each player within the group feels for themselves they can be much better and can contribute more so that's really where our focus is at, trying to facilitate that improvement, that growth and give those guys the opportunity to be even better players than what they were in the past because they know they have more in the tank and their capacity to deliver as players.

"So that's really where we are at, we are after that improvement and that growth."

The togetherness of a group, and the commitment those who are part of that group give to each other, was, he asserted, one of the reasons why Kildalkey were so successful in 2023 with that success including an unprecedented treble of championship triumphs at junior, intermediate and senior levels.

"You need people very committed to each other as much as they are committed to what they are doing, once they have that it's half the battle. Obviously the people here (at the presentation night) are very committed to each other so they have that togetherness and community spirit that's undeniable. Without doubt one of the top clubs in the country right now.

"Kildalkey don't need to do anything different to what they have done before, they have done it all, they have seen it all, they just need to keep trusting each other, keep looking to improve as a team.

"If you continuously find ways of improving and have that desire to be better than what you were the previous day you'll always get better and you'll always be successful, so I think this club, without doubt, are ambitious for more and for further improvement, enhancement, and they have structure in place around the team."

* More from Kiely and the Kildalkey presentation night in this week's Meath Chronicle