\u201cThere are four pillars in my view to a successful team,\u201d said Kiely before the Munster final. \u201cCoaching is number one, physical preparation is number two, psychology is number three, and environment is number four.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline has that responsibility for the psychological piece. It’s never what you imagine it to be. It can be quite straightforward, practical, simple stuff. But just getting it right and maintaining standards, making sure standards are at the highest possible level that they possibly can be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If it appeared Kiely was ranking the pillars, few would disagree with him. Personalise the departments and it\u2019s Paul Kinnerk and Adrian O\u2019Brien followed by Currid. Colonel. Lieutenant-colonel. Commandant.<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t to say Currid wouldn\u2019t have the authority to jump the chain of command if she felt it was necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows the group very, very well,\u201d continued Kiely. \u201cShe’s been with them for a number of years. Obviously, there’s a lot of new lads now in the last two years when she wasn’t there. She’s really enjoying getting to know all those new guys that she never knew before. She’s really, really impressed by them as good young men, young athletes that will contribute a lot to Limerick over the next number of years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously she has a tremendous relationship with the players that have worked with her in the past and there’s great trust there. There’s a great understanding and only good things can come from that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Currid is synonymous with Limerick success, present for all five of their All-Ireland SHCs since 2018. She was there for 2017 too when Limerick lost both of their championship games but she\u2019s also now considered the lucky charm. Like the North Carolina college shorts Michael Jordan used to wear under his Chicago Bulls uniform.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5139018_4_articleinline_3490755_1_.jpg\" "\\"The")
The Limerick hurling panel in attendance at the All-Ireland SFC game between Kerry and Armagh in Killarney. Pic: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
\u201cSubconsciously, they have only had success when Caroline has been there,\u201d former Limerick hurler Seamus Flanagan told Off The Ball in April. \u201cSo, now the fact that she\u2019s back, does that add a different dimension psychologically to the whole set-up? Do players buy into that like it\u2019s a narrative, like it\u2019s a factor? Definitely.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, she\u2019s unbelievable at what she does. It\u2019s the subtlety she does her work with. She\u2019s top, top class. It\u2019s the most innocuous, subtle conversations here and there. She\u2019s such a good people person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Against Clare earlier this year, former Limerick hurler Shane Dowling noticed how she highlighted Clare had hit them for four points on the bounce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst Cork in the Munster opener, they built a lead and were reeled in and beaten,\u201d he wrote in his Irish Daily Mirror column. \u201cSo when Clare landed four consecutive points, it was a warning.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd on the sideline, there was a reaction. Caroline Currid, the sports psychologist who has long been part of Limerick\u2019s inner circle, began calling it out. She moved from her seat in the dug-out among the backroom staff, walking hurriedly down the touchline to the hurley carrier. It was very visible. \u2018Four, four,\u2019 she shouted. John Kiely echoed it. Again and again. \u2018Four. Four.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dowling added: \u201cCurrid\u2019s role is often discussed. What she brings is not mystery or magic. It is clarity and trust\u2026 on Sunday, her influence was visible. Not in a speech but in a moment. In a call that cut through the drift and refocused the group.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kiely would also be known to bounce plenty of ideas off Currid. She was involved in Limerick choosing to return home directly after the 2023 All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny.<\/p>\n
In March, she joined Kiely, Kinnerk and former captain Declan Hannon for a fundraiser in New York. Just as they have done before as Munster champions, Limerick enjoyed a small training weekend in Kerry last Saturday week. They also took in the Kerry-Armagh All-Ireland SFC Round 3 game in Fitzgerald Stadium. There, alongside Diarmaid Byrnes, and with Kiely one seat over, Currid was seated in the O\u2019Sullivan Stand.<\/p>\n
The whole gang back together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Kiely was hardly minimalising Caroline Currid\u2019s role when he spoke about Limerick\u2019s performance coach last month. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[177329,1965,61,60,17406,43],"class_list":["post-526810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-championship-2026","tag-hurling","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-limerick-gaa","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}