Kyle Hayes warns Limerick are yet to hit their potential

Kyle Hayes has vowed there is more to come from Limerick after their All-Ireland triumph this season.

The team have been enjoying celebrations to the maximum, after bringing the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to the Treaty County for the first time in 45 years. The Shannon-siders were not fancied by many at the start of 2018, but this young crop blitzed the country to secure a memorable triumph.

They are sure to enjoy the weeks and months ahead, but 2019 will soon be on the horizon. Hayes knows they must get back into the swing of things towards the end of the winter.

"We're going to Fenway Park in November so we'll probably have to do a few training sessions before that," said the All-Ireland final man of the match. "I don't know if they'll be too hectic.

"When you get back from there you'll be looking at doing a bit in the gym and doing your pre-season gym.

"By the time we come back out on the pitch we'll be absolutely bulling to get out on it. You need a bit of a break as well, you can't stay going all year round. You just build up that hunger again once you get a bit of a break."

Hayes stressed there is room for this young team to improve.

"We'll always dig deep to get something more out of us," said the Kildimo native.

Speaking on behalf of all of us, we haven't reached our full potential yet.

"We're a young team and we'll relish that challenge now for, first of all, next year when we defend it first. We just want to grow and get closer as a team and we'll mature and get a bit more experienced and we should improve anyway."

Hayes is acutely aware they will be up there to be shot at as All-Ireland champions. Given that Cork and Clare will feel they could have gone further in 2018 and Tipperary and Waterford will be bouncing back under new management, the Munster Championship promises to be a bloodbath.

He said: "We'll welcome that challenge. We're going to defend it with everything we have. We want to improve more, we're not just content with staying where we are at the moment.

"We want to push on and win another few anyway, definitely. Yeah, we'll take it match by match, hopefully.

"That's why we did well this year - we weren't getting carried away. There's no point [in] listening to stories outside of the camp. You'll only get your head blown up.

"Everyone is fairly grounded to be fair. And as long as we keep that way it should be alright."