Of the 19 Limerick players that featured in July’s All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny, Nickie Quaid was one of just two aged over 30.
The other was Graeme Mulcahy, who came into the panel a couple of years before him. Quaid’s first season was 2010 with Limerick hurling at absolute rock bottom as they fielded a shadow team after then manager Justin McCarthy axed a host of players, resulting in a dozen others defecting in solidarity.
They lost each of their nine League and Championship games, most of them heavily. Quaid was a wing-forward back then. Now he’s a four-time All-Ireland winning goalkeeper who has just picked up his second All Star in between the posts.