Limerick far from last hurrahs just yet - O'Donoghue

That we're living in the greatest era ever for Limerick hurling is undeniable. Before 2018, the county had landed the ultimate prize seven times. On Sunday, they could win a sixth title in the period since. Having missed out on the five in a row, this group of players will be determined to claim another Liam MacCarthy and emphatically write themselves into the history books amongst the greatest teams from any county. Nothing ever lasts forever, though, and how long some of the Treaty men's more senior players have left is another point of discussion ahead of the big game. Of their starters in the semi-final win over Clare, Nickie Quaid, Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Diarmaid Byrnes, Darragh O'Donovan and Gearóid Hegarty are all in their 30s. It's the same for Tom Morrissey, David Reidy, Cian Lynch and Mike Casey, who all came off the bench in the comeback victory over the Banner. But for Will O'Donoghue, who is 31-years-old, this game doesn't have a sense of being a "last hurrah". Far from it for the Na Piarsaigh clubman, who hopes that the core of the team sticks around for a few more years, at least. "It's an interesting point in terms of there being a lot more behind us than there is in front of us," he told RTÉ Sport analyst, and former Limerick team-mate, Shane Dowling ahead of Sunday's showdown. "I would still say that there is quite a lot of road ahead of us. On a personal level, I am 31 and you could say I've played for longer already than I have left. "But I think there is a great appetite there from everyone on the panel. Everyone who's there has no agenda in terms of looking towards when it might finish up." And while O'Donoghue is clear that retirement is not on his mind, he does acknowledge that the end of his inter-county career will come eventually. All the more reason for him to enjoy it now. "I've seen (former captain) Declan (Hannon) talking recently and he was saying he doesn't miss the hurling and he doesn't miss the training but he misses the lads and he misses the group. "When you talk about time left I think everyone is just very grateful to be a part of it and to be able to give that time. "When you're a part of something like this you realise how lucky you are and it is my dream to be doing what I'm doing at the moment. I feel like the luckiest person to be a part of this group. "In terms of blocking it (discussion around retirements) out, I don't really have much patience for it. I don't listen to too much of it." What of turning things around this year? Limerick had the chance to become the first ever hurling county to do five senior All-Irelands in a row in 2024. Everything looked to be going to plan as they won a sixth Munster title on the bounce with a victory over Clare. But Cork were ready for them in the All-Ireland semi-final, bringing their run to an end with a two-point win at Croke Park. And the trajectory was definitely downwards after a 2025 season where they relinquished their Munster crown, before being shocked by Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final. "When you're in anything you also want to be super positive, don't you? "I thought last year was great as well and you're going up to the game (against Dublin), you're thinking we're going really well. "But I guess it's only when you look back and potentially look at our performances last year, things weren't going well. "We got a good performance in the league and we followed it up with a poor performance. Then we might have got a big result and then went out and didn't hit any of our key metrics or didn't hit KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). "Were we really going well? I don't even know if we won three matches. So while you're in it, you're always wanting to believe that this is going well. "All the building blocks were there but we weren't executing it to a level that we should have been. Then when you finish the year and you do a bit of digging, there are reasons for that. "As players we weren't giving enough. That review is already done and in the rear view mirror but you do have to be honest to try and find those pieces but it's small margins. "When you look at the league this year, we went after that and tried to build gradually and I think we have and we are delivering consistent performances." LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW BELOW Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship final, Galway v Limerick, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on all matches on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1