Shane Dowling coping with 'relentless' schedule between Limerick and Na Piarsaigh
Thursday 15 November 2018 14:17, UK
Shane Dowling conceded it's difficult for Na Piarsaigh stars who missed Limerick's National League campaign in 2018.
Na Piarsaigh are on the hunt for All-Ireland glory once again. The city side have won five county titles this decade, and gone on to capture provincial glory on each of the last four occasions, eager to make it five from five when they take on Ballygunner in Sunday's Munster final.
Given their dominance, it would be easy to assume their players were central to John Kiely's plans, yet just Mike Casey and Shane Dowling were the only two to prominently feature this season, with no Na Piarsaigh representation on the starting team for the Treaty's championship opener against Tipperary.
Dowling took the point that the Na Piarsaigh stars missing the National League campaign is not ideal from the perspective of their intercounty ambitions.
"I don't think victims of our own success is the right terminology but I hear what you're saying," said the Treaty's super-sub of 2018. "We started off with Limerick in November '16, that finished in July '17 when Kilkenny beat us. It was straight back in with Na Piarsaigh up until March '18 and then it was straight back in with Limerick until August this year and it was straight back in with Na Piarsaigh.
"So it's two years on the trot, an odd week [off] here or two weeks here. It's been fairly relentless but I'd rather be sitting here in front of you talking to you about that than saying my club was knocked out three months ago."
Dowling knows the Munster Senior League and National League can act as a springboard for players to nail down a starting berth for the summer.
He said: "Seamus Flanagan, if you asked someone in Limerick [last year] would he be starting in the summer, you wouldn't have thought, but he played the winter league and hurled well. He got his chance in the league and hurled well. He went the whole way."
However, the 25-year-old feels there is no quick-fix for the calendar, and the argument to squeeze the club season into the calendar year also has its faults.
He said: "If they bring it [the club final] to the end of January, aren't you training all the way through December when that's supposed to be your time off?
"There's no right answer. I've looked at every avenue, I knew this question was going to come up. If you bring it back to December, that means you have the All Ireland final in the middle of December, you get two weeks off, then you're straight back in with Limerick.
"If you keep it the way it is, you might get that little bit of time off but your chances of getting back in with your county team is limited because they've already got three months of work done so I can't find an answer and if someone can, I'd take my hat off. Some way or another, you're going to be caught."
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