John Kiely hasn't detected any chink in the armour of his Limerick hurlers. In fact, he believes the reigning All-Ireland champions are hungier than ever.
Although they didn't win the Munster title, Limerick won the Liam MacCarthy Cup for the first time since 1981 and followed it up by adding the league title at the end of March.
The Treaty men are heroes in their county on the back of a remarkable run since last summer, but Kiely only sees a group who want more.
"It doesn’t change anything at all," the 47-year-old school principal stated. "That was then, this is now, the 2018 championship has no bearing on the 2019 championship.
"It seems like an eternity ago.
"It has no bearing on what’ll happen - we have four games, there are two points available for each and we need to fight for those, but it’s all eyes on the first game."
Cork are first up at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday - and the Rebels have to be fired up after their opening defeat at home to Tipperary.
Furthermore, Cork beat Limerick in the league.
Limerick braced for intense Munster championship schedule but John Kiely adamant they can handle it
So Limerick have to be at it from the start. Kiely is asked if Limerick could be about to experience the equivalent of that difficult second album.
"It all remains to be seen," replied Kiely, who claims that nothing has altered for him either, save for his hair turning a little greyer.
"It's not like I don't want to win this match any less than I wanted to win a match last year. I probably want to win even more.
"There’s a chance there every day you go out to perform well and be successful. I’ve seen nothing to think that these guys are anything but ambitious, hardworking.
"When you have those two ingredients you’ll give yourself a chance. They’re very, very young. It’s not like they’ve lost any appetite or hunger for it.
"if anything, it has increased because they’ve seen what it’s like to be part of a group that’s performing well.
"The players are maturing, every year they get a little more experienced - on and off the pitch - and those experiences help in building their self-confidence, self-awareness, self-belief.
"They know as they progress through their careers that different experiences will come their way. Their reaction to those will determine their growth as individuals.
"We always wanted to be successful, and now we are successful...or, we’ve had a taste of it."
It's not just wanting to repeat last year's exhilarating feeling.
It's the fear factor of avoiding what happened the summer previous to that - when Kilkenny ended Limerick's championship on the first of July.
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"We know it’s a hell of a lot better than 2017," acknowledged Kiely. "I didn’t go home with a very sweet taste in my mouth after that experience. It’s not one I want to go back to.
"When you’ve had the tough years, you value the good times as well. They’ll be working for hard to remain as competitive as they can for as long as they can."
And is Munster the last box to be ticked for this team?
"I wouldn’t say it’s the last box," Kiely replied. "It’s a box I’m sure they'd love to be part of.
"In the present era, you’ll have really, really earned it because you’ll have played five games to win a Munster medal – you’d have won an All-Ireland and, maybe, a Munster championship years ago with that.
"It’s a wonderful competition to be part of".
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