When Mike Casey went down in a heap during Na Piarsaigh’s defeat to Ballygunner in the Munster club semi-final last November, he was actually less concerned than most observers.
At this stage, he explains, he’s familiar with the various “clicks” that emanate from his knees from time to time.
After rupturing a cruciate ligament just before the start of the Covid-delayed winter Championship of 2020, complications resulted in two further surgeries being required in 2021 before he finally got just in time back for the start of last year’s Championship, almost three years after his last appearance in the competition.
So, while going under the knife again certainly wasn’t ideal, it could have been a hell of a lot worse.
“It wasn’t too serious, thank God,” says Casey. “Again, another small bit of a cartilage issue, just went in and needed to get a bit of a tidy-up job on it. Nothing too serious, thank God.
“The lads in Santry have been unbelievable to me over the last number of years. Hopefully, it’s the last time I’ll see them.
“Even the medical staff with Limerick have been incredible. Hopefully all that is behind me now and we can move on to bigger and better things.”
While it’s easy to be nonplussed about it now when he’s back in the thick of it, Casey admitted that he was relatively calm about it when the injury occurred.
“I know the clicks inside there now at this stage,” he smiles. “I actually didn’t think it was as serious when it first happened.
“It actually happened about 10 minutes into the match, would you believe. I felt a little bit of a click in it. For that game, there was no way I was coming off until I had to be dragged off sort of a thing.
“The fall then towards the end looked worse than it actually was. I wasn’t massively concerned but there’s always that air of uncertainty when something goes wrong inside there.”
Having sat out the entirety of Limerick’s All-Ireland wins in 2020 and ‘21, playing a full role last year as they completed the three-in-a-row was particularly fulfilling for him, naturally enough.
“It was. It’s one of those ones where perspective was there and I took a lot of satisfaction at the full-time whistle in Croke Park.
“There were definitely times where I thought I wouldn’t get that feeling again of being out on the field. It was definitely a moment to cherish and one that I really soaked in and consciously wanted to soak in.
“It was definitely a season where I was able to put a lot behind me and really contribute to the group because that’s the end goal at the end of the day, try to get in and contribute as much as you can.”
He and his brother, Peter, for all the years that they have been involved with Limerick at senior level, have been like ships in the night when it comes to the county team.
It wasn’t until 2019 that Peter nailed down a regular spot alongside his brother and then Mike missed the next two seasons. A cruciate rupture of his own in the 2021 final meant that Peter only played a bit part towards the end of last year’s campaign.
However, they’re both raring to go together as the League draws to a conclusion with tomorrow’s final against Kilkenny, followed by the Munster Championship opener against Waterford in two weeks’ time.
“We had a nice moment last year where both of us were on the field for the final whistle in the All-Ireland final,” says Mike. “It’s been bad timing more than anything else but it’s not something that I can’t go out without him or he can’t go out without me but no, it’s something that’d play on your mind or anything like that.”
Victory over Kilkenny tomorrow would bring an 11th major title since 2018. To put that in perspective, you would have to go back 45 years prior to 2018 to accumulate the same tally. This group has won close to a quarter of all the honours that the county has ever achieved.
Is the dynamic such within the group now that it is relatively easy to maintain such high standards?
“Yes and no, like,” Casey answers. “You still have to get it out of each other. You still have to demand the best out of each other and it’s not a matter of everyone comes in, it’s all rosy in the garden and go home again.
“We work extremely hard at what we do. We demand the best from each other. Whether you have to tell a fella that you’re not at it tonight, you need to start getting at it, that’s done.
“We’re an incredibly honest group and when we go out on the field we’re unbelievably competitive within each other and that’s just the nature of the group.”
