By John Harrington

To be a top hurling full-back in the modern era you need to be both a warrior and a thinker.

An ability to spoil and out-muscle your opponent is still an important weapon to possess, but it’s not enough.

Such is the movement of modern-day forwards and the quality of delivery into them, that you have to be able to read the play well enough to get to the ball ahead of them and possess the skill to then claim it cleanly and use it wisely.

Considering these warrior-thinker requirements, Dan Morrissey’s psychological preparation for Sunday’s All-Ireland Final against Cork seems very apt.

On Saturday night he reckons he’ll watch the film Gladiator because it’s “a favourite to get the adrenalin levels up”.

Then, on the train up to Dublin on Sunday morning, he’ll sit across from Graeme Mulcahy and the two will spend the journey playing one another in chess, with Morrissey currently holding the whip-hand in that rivalry.

It’s this rare combination of battle-lust and brains that makes the Ahane man such an effective full-back.

He’s one of the most physically powerful players in the game right now, but when you watch him on the pitch its his decision-making that really stands out.

He has an ability to smell danger that enables him to be in the right place most of the time, and, when he wins possession, he usually does the right thing with it because he’s a talented sticksman as well as a formidable stopper which comes from having played most of his hurling until the last two years further out the field.

“Growing up I would have actually played a bit in the forwards, even going through school,” says Morrissey.

“It probably wasn't until I went into College, into UL, that I went back into the backs, the half-back line mainly. And then I've obviously been pushed back into the full-back line in the last few years.

“For the club at this stage I've probably played all over the place, from corner-back to corner-forward. But, yeah, full-back seems to be my position with the county now.

“At full back you need a mixture of everything. I wouldn't say there's one skill that you have to be particularly good at. You obviously have to be quick off the mark and you have to be able to win your own ball whether it's a high ball or low ball.

“You have to have good vision when you do get the ball coming out of defence. Then you obviously have to be able to mark your man and know where he is the whole time. Forwards move around so much these days.

“The days of a full-forward and full-back just standing on the edge of the square are well and truly gone. It's very rare even you'd have three full-forwards now in the full-forward line, it's usually only one or two inside and one might float about outside. Look, you just have to be able to adapt to whatever situation is put in front of you."

The decision not to start Morrissey at full-back against both Cork and Tipperary in the Munster Championship seemed like a strange call by John Kiely at the time, and it’s no coincidence that the team’s defensive play improved massively since he reclaimed his place for good after coming on as a first-half substitute in the Munster Final.

He brings a real sense of solidity and air of assurance to that last line of the Limerick defence because he’s the sort of unflappable player who doesn’t seem to worry that one mis-step could result in disaster that close to goal.

“I try not to,” he says. “When you put it like that there probably is more pressure in the full-back line compared to anywhere else in the pitch.

“But I think if you're going into the game with that mindset, that you can't afford to make a mistake, then you will end up making a mistake.

“I think going out and playing off the cuff and playing like you know you can play is the best way to do it and not be afraid to make a mistake.”