Aaron Gillane doesn’t want to hear about Waterford or the League or anything else.
He has a one-track-mind and, as far as the next two months go, it’s only concern is winning another All-Ireland title for Limerick. The rest, as far as he can see, is outside noise, it’s unnecessary riff-raff that, inside the minds of the Limerick players, won’t get the dignity of a second thought.
Gillane was defiant during Limerick’s win over Waterford on Saturday night and he was defiant after it too.
“That’s for ye to worry about,” he responded when asked about the chance of meeting them again down the line. Whatever about meeting them again, they certainly won’t want to meet him again.
That’s because, with Lynch, Hayes, Casey and Flanagan all missing, the narrative was out there that Limerick were vulnerable. And Gillane, playing in that free-flowing, whirlwind, top-of-the-ground style of his, seemed to take that not so much as a slight as a personal affront.
Try as they might to clamp down on him, switching McNulty and Gleeson and then Prunty, there was nothing they could do as he caught and turned and whipped his way four first half points from play. Not unlike his Patrickswell club-mate Diarmaid Byrnes, Gillane hurls like he can see into the future. He’s a step ahead of everyone else and that’s what makes him almost impossible to stop.
So just when Waterford started to look like the better team, what with Calum Lyons, Gleeson and Hutchinson all on song it was Gillane’s brilliance, his confidence and everything else that pulled Limerick back in.
Gillane is poetry in motion. He's a step ahead every time. What a hurler.pic.twitter.com/zyS61HWLpi
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) April 23, 2022
He continued that fine form into the second half and that’s what makes him, after two championship games, the top scorer from open play with 1-8 to his name. Afterwards, with Sky Sports’ Mike Finnerty suggesting that Limerick’s hunger was back, Gillane seemed offended by the notion that it had ever left.
“Ah I wouldn’t say it’s back to be honest, I don’t think it’s ever gone. We were training like dogs there during the League. I don’t think that’s any excuse for our performances but do you know, we were just getting ourselves right for championship because that’s the main thing at the end of the day.”
"Great match, thank God it's over!" 😅
Man of the match Aaron Gillane reflects on @LimerickCLG's victory over Waterford! pic.twitter.com/eLkimrxdhh
— Sky Sports GAA (@SkySportsGAA) April 23, 2022
