Yesterday, after the crushing 24-point defeat to Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park, McCarthy told Leader Sport that he will be at the helm for the rebuilding.
“I can see the bigger picture and there is no such thing of laying down and saying we can’t move on,” said McCarthy who is just 10 months into his reign in Limerick.
“I said that I would be down for two years and I have enjoyed every moment of it so far - there is great interest in hurling in Limerick,” Justin McCarthy said.
McCarthy and selectors Brian Ryan and Liam Garvey used 27 players in Limerick’s six championship games in 2009.
“Limerick are in transition,” explained McCarthy after yesterday’s 6-19 to 2-7 loss.
“Limerick have to look to the future and there are young lads coming through and there is not doubt that they will learn from that hardship and set back. Like all things in life, time erodes those things and next year Limerick will be back in the championship,” he said.
“They gave their all and I am not going to blame anyone - they gave their all. This was our sixth game of the championship - we won three, drew one and lost two.”
McCarthy said that he was happy with preparations and felt his side were ready to spring a surprise.
“We put in a great effort and you always think you have a chance of winning, but realistically there is a lot of rebuilding to be done. To win a trophy would be outstanding and that is the first thing,” he said.
“We came up against a very good team - we had our plans in place before the game and we thought they would work, but in fairness a few mistakes were made here and there and they capitalised and we missed a few chances. We were on the back foot after 20 minutes and by half time the game was over,” accepted the disappointed manager.
“We felt preparation was outstanding, the mood was great, fellas attitude was outstanding and we trained exceptionally well. We came up against a team that is probably two years ahead of Limerick in terms of preparation and development.
“They won two Munster championships and a National League and they are a very good team.”
With manager Justin McCarthy confirming his desire to remain in charge, attention will now turn to two of the more experienced members of the pane - Mark Foley and Ollie Moran.
“I don’t know - I will have to wait and see. After being beaten like that it’s a body blow, but I guess at this time it would be wrong to make a decision because your emotions are all over the place,” Mark Foley told Leader Sport last evening.
The thoughts of Donal O’Grady turned to the large Limerick support in Croke Park as the midfielder attempted to analyse his side’s semi-final collapse.
“We are not that bad - that isn’t a true reflection,” he said of the crushing defeat.
“I am more disappointed for the supporters than anything,” explained the Granagh-Ballingarry man.
“It’s just disappointing, that was very bad - we are terrible disappointed,” he said with bowed head.
“We can’t cod ourselves - we are behind Tipperary hurling wise, but no that much.
“We thought we had a great chance of beating Tipperary today and even our heart and our spirit would get us so far, but we couldn’t get the ball over the bar to keep in touch with them,” he recalled.
With Justin McCarthy committed to a second year at the helm O’Grady believes that there is a future for this panel: “There is a very young bunch of players coming through and I hope they stick together and Justin can bring us on another level. We have no other choice, but to pick it up because we want to be up there with the Tipperarys and the Kilkennys.”
Jerome O'Connell
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