Donal O’Grady says that Limerick aren’t operating with a “blank chequebook” despite their record spend in 2022.
Last night’s Limerick GAA annual convention reported an outlay of almost €2.3m on their various inter-county teams, just after it emerged Galway had become the first county to break the €2m mark in a single year.
The fact that Limerick are backed financially by JP McManus is often linked to their recent success in hurling, though team selector O’Grady, who was speaking at the launch of the 2023 Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League, insists that the team management doesn’t have carte blanche from the county board.
“Are we doing anything that other teams aren't, as far as financially?” he wondered. “I would say we're doing the exact same.
“Obviously we're at the latter end of the Championship, which obviously has its own costs.
“My understanding is that the team trip was in that as well. There's nothing, how would I say, a blank chequebook thrown at the senior hurling team, everything is done for a reason and I suppose it's hard to know what other counties are doing.”
GAA director general Tom Ryan warned that spending on county teams was at “unsustainable” levels in his annual report in February 2020 though, having come out the other side of the pandemic in the meantime, it appears that the near €30m combined outlay on preparation of all county teams that he quoted for 2019 will be exceeded this year.
“Where it's going, genuinely, I don't know,” O’Grady continued. “Where do you put a stop in it? Do the wealthier counties kick on because of it?
“It's something maybe that will probably have to be looked at down the line if it spirals out of control.
“At this moment in time, it's something that we don't really, as a management team, have control of. We can ask for X, Y and Z but there's plenty of things we've asked for and they've said, 'No, not this time lads'. And that's understandable.”
Elsewhere, O’Grady said that star man Cian Lynch is back doing some light training after suffering an ankle injury in the run up to last July’s All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny.
The two-time Hurler of the Year had already missed the majority of the Championship with a hamstring injury but is on track to feature in the early stages of the Allianz League.
O’Grady explained: “He had a bit of soreness up to a couple of weeks ago but has come back doing a bit of training with us, doing a bit of running. Nothing too intensive. Or nothing match-based, or anything like that. The signs are positive that we will hopefully have him back early on in the season.
“Obviously he has nothing done since the Waterford game in the Gaelic Grounds (last May) where he did that serious hamstring injury. He missed all his club championship.
“Fitness-wise, we’ll see how he is, but definitely as far as getting a heavy workload into him, he is getting there and nearly ready for that.”
Full-back Mike Casey will likely be phased back in at a later stage having suffered a knee injury while on club duty for Na Piarsaigh though it’s not a recurrence of the cruciate that he ruptured previously.
O’Grady added: “There's no timeline but we're delighted because it didn't look good when it happened. But he got good news in the sense that it wasn't his cruciate again.
“I think there's a bit of cartilage damage so he's going to be out for the early part of the season anyway.
“If he can come from a cruciate like the way he did, on his first night back with us last year he had a relapse without tearing it again and to finish up the season in the All-Ireland final with us was a testament to the way he came back really.
“He's very driven, there'd be no fear of him that way, he just needs a bit of luck really. There'd be no fear of him doing his rehab, he's a top guy. He needs a bit of luck, Peter the same, I don't know what it is with the Caseys.
“They've had a tough time but they've responded great, Peter has responded great, he finished out the club season great with Na Piarsaigh. If we could get them two boys fit for the middle of the year we'll be in a good place.
“I wouldn't rule him [Mike] out of the National League but I'd say that obviously we'll have to mind him, how serious it is and a timescale on his comeback, we don't know yet.”
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