After three months' travelling around South America, Tom Morrissey arrived back in Ireland last Friday and immediately swapped his backpack for his gear bag.
The following afternoon, the five-time All-Ireland winner resumed his old life, linking up with members of the extended Limerick panel for a Saturday training session.
“I wanted to get the first one done so it was good to get training straight away, get back into the routine and get the body moving,” says Morrissey.
“I got that session in on Saturday and then a gym session on Monday. While the first one or two might be tough on the body I’m sure by the end of this week, the start of next week, the body will start getting accustomed to the routine again and the load of training.”
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He was out again on Tuesday night. From beach to burpees, just like that. But then the condensed nature of the intercounty campaign means players no longer have the luxury of swanning around until the clocks go forward before introducing their boots to a new season.
And, truth be told, in the weeks before arriving home it wasn’t all caipirinhas and sightseeing as the 28-year-old actively sought out gyms and pounded the pavements to make sure he would at least hold his own on arriving back to the Limerick camp.
Morrissey and his girlfriend Elaine Dolan left on November 3rd and spent three months exploring South America – taking in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and finishing up in Brazil.
“Seven countries in three months, it was fast-paced, we got a lot done in three months, it was thoroughly enjoyable,” says Morrissey.
“I thought Machu Picchu [was great], we did the Inca trail, that was definitely up there as one of our highlights. And just the city of Rio de Janeiro, I really enjoyed that. Unreal sights to see in Christ the Redeemer, the beaches in Copacabana and Ipanema, great nightlife there, the favelas. I went paragliding there as well, just an abundance of different things to do which I absolutely loved about the city.”
The Ahane club man didn’t pick up a hurl during his travels but he hopes the break away from the goldfish bowl of intercounty hurling will stand to him as the season progresses.
“Mentally I feel great, feel refreshed and hungry to go again for this season,” he says. “Three months without thinking about hurling too much, preparing for hurling or holding a hurley, really. While it is nice to disconnect it does build up a small bit of hunger that you can’t wait to get back.”
He won’t be featuring in Sunday’s league clash against Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds but hasn’t ruled out being available for the Division 1A fixture away to Kilkenny on February 23rd.
Limerick enter the season with the sting of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Cork still fresh in the memory. Morrissey hasn’t watched that game back, but he can visualise all he needs to from the Croke Park loss.
“Obviously I’d be lying if I didn’t say it has crossed my mind. Like, you think about it. It obviously hurt a lot in the immediate aftermath,” he says. “But at the moment, we’re probably about six months on from it, I’ve been out of the country for three of those months and I wasn’t really thinking too much about hurling in general for those three. Look, it’s in the past now. It was what it was.
“We’ll try and take learning from it, both us and I’m sure the management as well, because obviously we don’t want that to happen again this year. You always think when you lose, individually could I have done anything better and as a team could we have done anything better?
“But ultimately I think when you have time to reflect and you look back – we lost two games to Cork last year – you just can’t have any complaints, really. It’s just time to move on and improve.”
Limerick’s opening game of the year took place at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday night when John Kiely’s side played out a draw with Cork. It was a contest with plenty of needle – and subsequently some fan footage emerged online appearing to show Séamus Flanagan jabbing Niall O’Leary with his hurl.
Limerick are hopeful Flanagan will escape a retrospective ban.
“I didn’t see any of the incidents, to be honest,” says Morrissey. “I know there was a lot of niggly stuff going on around the field, it happens a lot in intercounty games. Some get picked up, some don’t. Whatever happens, happens as a result.”
The ultimate goal for Limerick this season is to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand again and get their hands on Liam MacCarthy once more.
But for Morrissey, his target over the coming weeks is simply to get back on the pitch.
“At the moment I’m probably a small bit behind the pack so I just want to get back fit, get my hurling sharp and I suppose try and maintain my starting place on the team when the championship comes around.
“We have a lot of lads that can play in around that middle third, especially midfield and the half-forward line. That’s the only thing I’m worrying about at the moment, getting back and just getting myself right and hopefully performing well again.”
(Morrissey was speaking at the announcement of a three-year partnership that will see Solgar become the official vitamin partner of the GAA and GPA.)
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