As Limerick’s drive for five cranked up last year, you wondered if John Kiely was lining up a glorious exit.
Notably, Kiely had only taken a one-year extension to his term after the 2023 Championship having signed up in two-year terms blocks prior to that and commented that “it probably won’t last for much longer” in the aftermath of winning the four-in-a-row. The same year, he stepped down from his role as principal of the Abbey School in Tipperary town to taking on the vice-principal’s job.
So, it didn’t seem fanciful to imagine that everything was being thrown at winning hurling’s first five-in-a-row in 2024 before passing on the reins to someone else.
As it turned out, Cork put paid to their ambitions of making history in the All-Ireland semi-final, but Kiely tells us now that he had already resolved to continue in advance.
"You have your mind made up beforehand, to be honest,” he says. “It's not that you leave it expire and then visit it.
“I would have had that question in my head for the previous 12 months and one of the main litmus tests for me is, No 1, I enjoy it; the journey, the work and being with the group.
“No 2, and it sits alongside it in terms of importance, do you think that the group are benefiting by being there? Enjoyment and benefit to the group, are the two primary questions.
“I have always really enjoyed being with this group. There's a fantastic backroom team. There have been changes over the years, there has probably been a bit more change this last winter but nonetheless there are great relationships there, great camaraderie there, great purpose there and great enjoyment.”
And Kiely explained how it wasn’t a case of canvassing the players in the weeks and months after last year’s Championship exit.
“I have to trust my own intuition and my own experience in that regard. I'm not going to network through the entire group to get their opinion on it. Ultimately I'm the manager and it is for me to lead and I feel at that point in the journey it is very important for me to accept that challenge and meet that question. I have to lead by that.
“Plus, if I am doing my job I should have a very good sense of the group and what they are at and what their needs are. If I was passing the baton on to someone else, I would and should be in a position to give an indication to the next person what the needs of the group are.”
The management team didn’t remain entirely intact, however. Donal O’Grady and Aonghus O’Brien moved on, with Liam Cronin coming on board as coach/selector and Adrian O’Brien joining as strength and conditioning coach.
“They have fresh faces, fresh voices, fresh ideas. The group would feed off that in a big way. It really energises the group. It felt like a new group and a new team to be involved this year because there were so many changes in the backroom and the player group as well.
“You have to evolve over time and in order to find ways of generating new ideas, new creativity, there has to be change first of all. So change is a key element and we can't be afraid of change.
“If I was afraid of change I would have tried my damndest to keep everyone together going forward but I have to be brave enough to know that change is necessary and take that risk and give opportunity to new people to come on board.”
Kiely himself has taken a career-break from the school to work for JP McManus's Martinstown Stud, though he insists that it doesn’t change the dynamic of managing Limerick.
"No,” he says. “Work is work. You get up every morning and you head off. It's a different environment.”
The League had its ups and downs, but the enjoyment that Kiely talks about remains as acute as he enters his ninth Championship campaign against Tipperary on Sunday.
"If you are not in there with a smile on your face… believe me, it's not easy keep a smile on your face in the last round of the League when you are hockeyed by Wexford.
“In the main, do you want to get into your car to go to training 10 minutes, half an hour earlier than you need to? That's a great sign. If you are having fun there, if you're having laughs. And enjoying the work and getting over the challenges.”
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