Manager Liam Cahill says there are no egos within the Tipperary panel
'They are a group of players that keep one another very accountable'
Tipperary manager Liam Cahill says that there are no egos within the group that has reached Sunday's All-Ireland final against Cork.
“They’re a real humble group of players that we have, our standards in that regard are really good. There is no ego whatsoever within the group, they are a group of players that keep one another very accountable. You get that in the way they train, you get that when you see them off the field when we have the odd social event, and you definitely see it between the lines when the pressure comes on on the big day.
“I’m really happy in that regard with the way this group of players have really galvanised themselves together as a proper unit.
“For me, 2024, as disappointing as it was, it wasn’t a massive surprise to me in hindsight. We felt it was always going to be a tough year, because there were a lot of players bottoming out from a long career, a lot of areas where our bringing through of players, who we knew were in the background, were not up to readiness yet.
“Our preparations tweaked a little bit around trying to keep injury prevention down, and get our fitness balance right, and that kind of hurt us a little bit because maybe we didn’t see out games as good as we should have in 2024.
“There have been a lot of different aspects to go after from 2023-24 and leading into 2025. It has been huge for management, coaches and players to pick those areas, obviously fitness being number one, our mindset, our unity within the group to make sure it was a lot tighter than maybe it was, and obviously the integration of younger players as well.
“All of those areas were huge in getting us to where we are today”.
How did he manage to improve the unity within the panel?
“I think players take huge responsibility for that. I might look for it as a manager and try to encourage and facilitate it as best I can. But unity in a group comes from within. There’s big leadership in our captain Ronan Maher, and Jake (Morris) really stepping up as one of our key leaders as well this year, and over the last couple of years.
“Our more experienced players help our younger players along, on and off the field, around what’s required to play for Tipperary and be a Tipperary player off the field as well”.
Was it a job to lift the players on their first night back in preparation for the 2025 season?
“Coming off the campaign we had, there will obviously be mental scars, but for me the key was to break it down bit by bit, break down our little goals and little targets, and start building up the momentum gradually.
“Ye guys, not all of ye, put the narrative out that Tipp would thunder into it for the league and then they’ll fall asunder. We had to go after the league for little gains to build up that confidence.
“When you start doing that and the players see it coming through, suddenly you are going away to difficult assignments in the league in Pearse Stadium and Nowlan Park and getting results.
“Then you find yourself in a league final, and you say, right, let’s bank that as one of our goals achieved and start ramping up for the first round of the championship.
“The Limerick game in Thurles was huge for us to really start building that mental mindset again. To come through that game with something out of it, a draw, and it’s always difficult for me anyway to get one over on John Kiely, but we took a lot of confidence out of that match. It was the manner in which we ground out that result that gave us the platform to put aside what people may think and say about us that Tipp can win in the winter and can’t come summer. All those little things help to fuel the desire to get the job done.
“To keep proving people wrong is a key driver for me personally and it is a key driver for all the players in the dressing room. You don’t take it personally, you never do, but it does hurt when your good name is questioned. When you look in at a team that doesn’t reflect what you really want to go after and what you prepare for, does hurt you as a manager”.
He has also spoken about the sense of responsibility that weighs on an inter-county manager.
“When you’re in any job, it’s the same for any person in a management role, when they feel they have the responsibility of a certain standing and when they represent so many people, you can’t help but feel that responsibility. You always look out at a team hoping that they’ll reflect what you encourage them to do and what you would like to see happening from a performance perspective.
“Even though you’re the manager of a team you’re looking in as a supporter too to make sure they reflect everything that you want in an outfit to make people proud, that’s what you’re trying to create. And when that doesn’t happen, as the old saying goes, players win matches and managers lose them, and the buck stops with the manager. And that weighs heavily whether managers admit that or not. I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t weigh heavily on everybody in a role of that magnitude in particular, when it comes to poor performances and looking at and reflecting on what needs to happen to improve.”
In the most recent meeting of the teams, Cork beat Tipperary by 15 points in the second round of the Munster championship in April, after Darragh McCarthy had been sent off in the first minute.
“Obviously, you learn a lot from defeat,” says Liam Cahill. “First and foremost out of the Cork game, to come out of that with fourteen players, the way we performed from a spirit perspective, no one downed tools, we weren’t expecting them to any way, but to keep trying to do the right thing, being under the cosh for the full game really.
“So, we came out of that with a huge boost in confidence. When we look back on it properly and together, the chances we created, what we could have gotten out of the game had we been a little bit better from an execution point of view, and our score conversion, gave us great energy to go to Ennis to get a result.
"We knew going to Ennis we were going to have to bring energy again, and bodies were really tired after that Cork match, and we freshened it up with players such as Andy Ormond and a few others in terms of energy around the field. They were performing really well in training and were probably looking at me saying, when am I going to get my opportunity, and when they got it they took it.
“Andrew Ormond is having a huge year, as well as some others, but he is one that definitely has grasped the opportunity to stake a place in the starting fifteen".