New management has succeeded in restoring pride in Tipperary hurling

So, where does Tipperary hurling stand now? At the halfway stage in the season, it’s perhaps an opportune moment to reflect on what’s already done and what’s still to come.

Context, I guess, is always necessary in any assessment. When Liam Cahill, Mikey Bevans and associates took over, they inherited a mess. The team would have been in a state of flux anyway with retirements and whatnot, but given the way things unfolded in 2022 a new order was needed in 2023.

The new management has delivered on that front. Pride has been restored. The defeat to Cork in the final round of last year’s Munster campaign was an especially low point, a defining moment in that season.

This year’s league has turned that ship around. Unbeaten in the five rounds, it was perhaps the wins over Kilkenny and Waterford that gave most promise. And even though defeat to Limerick in the semi-final put matters in a starker perspective, the margin of six points was modest enough to suggest that the team was on the right track, albeit having some distance still to travel.

The management cast the net extremely wide in their bid to reshape a new panel. Liam Cahill’s knowledge of players from his time as underage manager clearly influenced his panel choices. This was matched by a willingness to experiment with team formation. Above all a strong team spirit was nurtured.

Following the league semi-final defeat to Limerick the Supporters Club’s man in Ennis, Willie Moloney, forwarded some interesting statistics. On the starting fifteen in the league semi-final, 14 clubs were represented, Sarsfields being the only one with two reps. On the panel of 26 you had 22 clubs featuring, though county champions, Kilruane MacDonaghs, were absent from the list.

Of course, some of that can be easily explained. Niall O’Meara and Craig Morgan would be present but for injuries, the former said to be making strong progress towards a quick return. Kian O’Kelly is on the panel, though not listed for the Limerick game.

Is such a wide spread of clubs a strength or weakness? It certainly reflects the management’s desire to search every corner of the county for potential talent.

Perhaps it also reflects our senior championship, where the last six years have seen six different clubs take the honours. Since Sarsfields slipped the Dan Breen race has become an open, unpredictable contest. Nobody is dominating.

I’m not convinced that it’s a positive for the county team. Strong champion clubs are often the drivers of inter-county progress. You see that with Ballyhale in Kilkenny, Ballygunner in Waterford and, back the years, various Cork clubs were central to the county team. You saw it also with Portumna in Galway and, further back, Birr in Offaly.

Anyway, Liam Cahill has to cope with the hand he’s dealt and thus far he’s managed to lift spirits after a most dispiriting 2022.

Just how successfully the side has been reinvented will be seen in the championship, starting with that crunch opener in Ennis.

I’m not convinced that we yet have a stable formation to successfully tackle the rigours of championship. I’d be very nervous if we went into the Munster round robin series with the same full back line as that which faced Limerick the last day. Johnny Ryan and Eoghan Connolly have done remarkably well but they are still raw rookies learning their trade at this level.

Incidentally, those who criticise Johnny Ryan for the Peter Casey goal would need to reflect that Aaron Gillane poached almost identical scores against Seamus Kennedy and Cathal Barrett last year.

Then there’s the issue of Michael Breen at full back. He’s a player with many fine qualities who’s had great days in the Tipperary jersey but I remain to be convinced that he’s well suited to the basic requirements of a number three.

The argument that defenders need to be able to adjust to any of the six positions is overplayed. The best teams still have established specialists in key roles. You know that Hannon will be centre back for Limerick, Byrnes will be wing, Finn and Nash in the corners etc. Of course, they can move and take up other roles in the course of a game but first and foremost they’re experts in the requirements of their specific positions.

Likewise with the goalie. Some time back I heard a pundit suggest that shot-stopping was no longer the primary requirement of a ‘keeper – and I cringed. Imagine having a goalie who is an accurate striker of the ball but couldn’t block a shot. The fundamentals of the game don’t change and a goalie’s essential role is still to keep the ball out of his net.

Incidentally, goalies are very much at the mercy of their outfield players when it comes to puckouts. In the first half of the league semi-final Barry Hogan could easily find unmarked colleagues - and did so consistently - but in the second period that option was mostly closed off by Limerick.

Ultimately, I think Ronan Maher and Bryan O’Mara will be our two key defenders and I suspect we’ll need one on each line. The return of Cathal Barrett should improve options but he’s missed a lot of play time during the spring.

At midfield Alan Tynan has emerged as a really dynamic player but Conor Stakelum has struggled to find form since returning from that injury. Noel McGrath is likely to remain crucial as a playmaker and play-manager, whether at midfield or half forward.

Jason Forde is our top forward and Gearoid O’Connor has shown his capability at this level also. The debate around Seamus Kennedy’s role will remain. He’s not a natural attacker but given the team’s requirements he’s likely to continue at half forward.

Elsewhere in the attack there are issues. “Bonner” Maher, lion-hearted as ever, just found it difficult to gain traction against Limerick. Jake Morris displayed his limitations that day in the absence of goal openings. We still await the return of John McGrath to the starring role of some years back. Conor Bowe and Mark Kehoe show potential, which now needs to be franked by consistency.

Stringing it all together you get the sense of a team that’s in good mood and giving it all, but still with many questions around personnel and structure. For Liam Cahill, perhaps we might recall that one-time Fianna Fáil slogan: “A lot done. More to do”.

Elsewhere, Hurler on the Ditch (HOTD) made one of his more sporadic Twitter contributions of late following the league semi-final against Limerick. It was a critical critique of the modern game, one that mostly finds favour with this column.

The beautiful game of hurling has lost a deal of its beauty and HOTD has accurately traced the causes. From Newtownshandrum’s running game to Donal Óg’s short puck outs, the game has evolved in a distinct direction that has led to many of the modern day issues.

The football virus carries much blame too with its obsession with possession, with running off the shoulder, with free-hand tackles and swarm tackling.

The great spectacle is being choked out of the game: now we have the ball being thrown around, players taking endless steps to break the tackle, everything condensed into a midfield scrum; games are won by long-distance points.

Symptomatic of hurling’s decline is the way the cynical foul rule is being widely ignored by referees - and was never even introduced into the club game.

Tackling the handpass would be a great start at reform but even our County Board hadn’t the good sense to promote action there. Depressing.