Even when they didn’t steamroller teams for entire games, they did so for periods long enough within them to assert to all their undeniable dominance.
Now, perhaps due to the amount of wars they have gone through these past two seasons in particular, they are beginning to look battle-weary.
With every possible medal already secured, along with All Stars and Hurler of the Year titles in the bag, all that is left is to match or better the four-in-a-row achievement.
In many ways, they have already bettered what Kilkenny 2006-09 did, by virtue of having to go through gruelling Munster campaigns — and factor in the round-robin system — whereas The Cats simply had to peak for All-Ireland semi-finals due to Leinster being a wasteland.
By the time Kilkenny met a Munster side, the latter were often on their knees from the battles they had already endured.
This is not a point that people from the Marble County like to accept, but it is undeniable when they look at what Limerick have had to hurdle by comparison.
So in truth, the three-in-a-row is probably more impressive than Kilkenny’s four. Given that your columnist is from Tipperary and would like to see both counties win nothing, you can trust that this is said without bias.
So here we are now, potentially at the beginning of the end for this exceptional Treaty group.
There is talent coming through but Kiely’s use of substitutions last week — Graeme Mulcahy, Richie English and David Reidy ahead of Colin Coughlan, Adam English and Shane O’Brien — suggests they may not yet be ready.
Some illustrious players have been making routine errors this season, while Lynch and Gearoid Hegarty have been off-colour to an alarming degree.
Teams have made ground on them both physically and tactically, and there’s very little management or players can do in the space of a week to alter the flow.
Should they win a Munster and/or an All-Ireland title from here, it will be an achievement second only to ending the 45-year wait in 2018. To do so with largely the same players, assuming huge changes are not made at this juncture, would be mightily impressive.
While Theseus’ Paradox asks whether a ship remains the same even after you’ve eventually changed each plank, you wonder if the Limerick juggernaut still be king of the high seas without installing fresh boards in the hull.
If Cork don’t show up with fire in their eyes and ice in their veins, the men from the Shannonside will surely live to fight another day.
