A FLAVOUR of Gary Kirby's importance to the Limerick team could be sampled in the week before last month's Munster final replay. A suspected fracture of his skull plunged Limerick into gloom. The thought of him not lining out was an intimation of mortality for a team that had come to rely so much on his contribution.

He survived the tests and Xrays and Limerick survived the replay. Kirby's performance wasn't up to the usual dominant standard, but his very presence seemed to count for something. Hard as it was for them to cope with his subdued mood, it was hard to imagine the team would have managed in his absence.

Carrying the burden of such expectation can't be easy, but if it wearies him he doesn't give any indication. Born to hurling, his uncles Phil and Richie Bennis were legendary figures the last time Limerick won an All-Ireland. His base is Patrickswell, the most successful club in Limerick in the modern era.

About the only time he wasn't carrying expectations was when he was made captain of Limerick, two seasons ago and his mother is reputed to have said in an outburst of misplaced pessimism: "Oh, what a year to have been made captain.

In his first year, Limerick manager Tom Ryan inherited Kirby the player and Kirby the captain. He was more than grateful for the legacy.

"I found Gary an excellent competitor. Anything that's right about hurling is in him. His contribution is immense. He's very committed and the amount of work he gets through . . . and that's without him scoring 1-9 and 1-10.

"My priority with the forwards is to build, and Gary is a great anchor man. He's very helpful off the field, cultivates the young players and leads by example. He's a natural and loves hurling. There's only one side to him, a good side and he always works hard off the ball, always makes himself available.

"He rarely plays a bad game. A lot of people can play well one day, but he produces it every day. He has courage and confidence and can sweep away from defenders.

He was an excellent captain, a great diplomat. We were lucky to have a man of his calibre. It's not easy. Playing is a natural thing, but diplomacy, dealing with sponsors and all that, is a different thing. It's demanding. He's a credit to his family and county."

Just as his presence is of immense comfort to his own teammates, it spooks opponents in two ways: his eye for the chance from play and the mechanical precision of his free-taking.

"He has an intimidating effect on the opposition - in a sporting way. I've noticed a lot of counties pay him special attention and that gives freedom to others.

"In the modern game, it (reliable free-taking) is crucial. Not having it is the Achilles heel of a lot of teams. Defences that consistently foul are in trouble anyway - which is why our record in that area is good. You can't be fouling in the modern game."

Clare's centre back and current Texaco Hurler of the Year, Sean McMahon, is familiar with Kirby, having faced him in the last three seasons he kept him scoreless from play in last year's Munster final.

"He's probably the hardest I've had to mark," says McMahon. "He's so elusive he drifts one way, then the other. You have to go man-to-man on him, watch him totally for the hour. He's not stuck into it all the time or beating his way through, but if you're daydreaming, at all, he's gone and it's a score.

Kirby's style is unorthodox or at least unusual, a blend of physique, quick thinking and high productivity. His grip is right-hand under but his striking off either side doesn't indicate any adverse consequences of the heresy.

His attributes could be applied in other areas of the field, but Limerick have always clothed him in the number 11 jersey.

"It's often been said that Gary would be an ideal full-forward - and he would be - but we've always stopped short because the centre forward role is pivotal," says Ryan.

"Look at the games. Against Tipperary in the second half, for instance. When he wins the ball, he can put away the chances. In pressure matches, you see fellas catching cleanly and dropping the ball but not Gary."

McMahon sees in Kirby a dangerous variation on conventional centre forward play. "A lot of centre forwards are there to keep the ball going or set it up for someone else. He's different; he takes the scores himself.

"Centre back is the loosest defensive position, you can normally play your own game, but not on him. He's totally different to John Troy, Joe Rabbitte, Cathal Moore. You can play your own game and hit a load of ball but he'll score points off you.

Everyone has their favourite memories. Ryan's fancy was caught by a virtuoso demonstration in a relatively unimportant context last year.

"I remember a challenge against Clare in Broadford. They were just starting their run and anxious to win. There was one incident when a ball came in on the goal and he rose, almost glided into the air, and hit it into the goal. It was a crowded goal-mouth but they never saw it.

"He's very strong. And the goal in this year's match against Clare, he got the ball from Paudge Tobin and rode the tackle. He's a bit unpredictable, can always do what's not expected, pull on the ball instead of catching."

McMahon naturally has a different perspective. He remembers the vital goal that Kirby scored in June's Munster semi-final.

"Against us, a high ball came in, I didn't think he could get it. Tobin came out, got the ball and left a load of space inside and gave it in. Kirby was gone and got in for the goal. I fell at the wrong time trying to get after him, but he had done everything right. The minute the ball hit the ground, he was gone."

McMahon notes: "Very rarely will you totally shut him out of a game and keep him scoreless. The main part of his game is scoring. He doesn't set up a lot for others, he knows he has to do the scoring."

The impeccable conduct of his duty on the pitch is mirrored in his application off it.

In three years," says Ryan, "he's never missed a training session. That's with his asthma problem, building a new house and getting married. He's very good with youngsters and always turns up for them."