Past experience suggests that Tipperary hurlers will be wary travelling to Parnell Park

Once upon a time, Tipperary were regarded as league specialists in hurling. Not anymore. It’s now sixteen years since we last lifted the league trophy back in 2008; in the interim the county has lost five finals, four to Kilkenny and the fifth to Galway. It’s a bleak recent record, our worst in the history of the competition.

As a new league series kicks off this weekend, it’s perhaps appropriate to remind ourselves of that historical context. In a twenty-year period from the late 40s to the late 60s, the county collected a dozen league titles. Since then, there were sporadic wins before the well ran dry after 2008.

It’s something of an oddity that the great team that captured All-Irelands in 2010, 2016 and 2019 failed to win a league during that decade. When Seamus Callanan retired last autumn, he was the last remaining player with a league medal, having come on in the 2008 decider against Galway.

It’s rarely mentioned but I suspect players like Padraic Maher and Brendan Maher, for instance, must have had regrets on retirement that they have no league medal in their collections. These were great players, bedecked with all the honours the game bestows, yet this one blank remains.

I wouldn’t be as dismissive of the league as others. As the second most important competition, I think it’s a prize worth winning. We share the lead with Kilkenny on the roll of honour with nineteen titles. I’d like to see that strong tradition sustained, though for the moment we’ve gone from league specialists to league laggards.

Anyway, the new league launches on Saturday when we face the Dubs at Donnycarney. Parnell Park has a well-earned reputation as an uncompromising venue for visiting sides. It has that sense of claustrophobia, that feeling of being hemmed in where you can hear the barks from the terraces. For some it can be a bit unnerving.

As if to emphasise the point, our last two visits to Parnell Park were chastening experiences. We rolled up to the venue in 2015 in mid-February and suffered a twelve-point roasting. It was viewed as something of a hangover from the 2014 All-Ireland experience. Ronan Maher was at number 5 and ‘Bonner’ Maher came in as a replacement.

Afterwards it took the team some time to emerge from the dressing room after what was described as straight talking. The talking must have worked because that was the only round we lost in the group series, though we went on to lose the semi-final to Waterford, the eventual winners.

In 2010 the story was similar. This time a nine-point deficit was the outcome. We finished third in the group with the top two contesting the final where Galway defeated Cork. Past evidence then bids us beware of Donnycarney.

Historically we’ve fared well against Dublin. The counties met on 38 previous occasions with Tipperary winning 23, losing 11 and drawing four. Perhaps the last 10 meetings of the counties are more relevant: Tipp won six, lost three and drew one. Last year we met at Croker, where Tipperary were 2-23 to 0-24 winners; the previous year at the Stadium they pipped us, 2-16 to 0-21.

This may be just the opening round of the league but it is a major one for the teams. In normal circumstances we’d expect to beat Westmeath and Antrim so a minimum of three wins should see the team in the top half of the table, which is a crucial requirement to be in the top group for 2025. Thereafter Limerick and Galway will present greater obstacles this spring.

Saturday’s lineout will be watched with interest. One suspects it’s going to be a mixture of established players and those who’ve shown best inclination during winter training and trials. Given the importance of the game, especially the desire to get off to a winning start, one assumes the management will opt for as strong a lineout as possible.

Some players are still unavailable or else being held back at this stage of the season in order to maximise their impact later on. Jason Forde had surgery on an old finger injury and it will be some time before he’s fit to resume. Others like Noel McGrath and Seamus Kennedy are being held in abeyance ahead of a return later in the competition. It’s all part of modern-day player management.

The position of goalie is interesting. Last year Rhys Shelly got the nod ahead of Barry Hogan but there’s a suggestion now that the order is reversed. The Kiladangan man was the only player not substituted last Sunday, which may add substance to that notion. We’ll see.

Ronan Maher has spent a lot of time at full back recently, which perhaps suggests that he’s viewed as the best number three option at this stage. Cathal Barrett will likely be in his usual position at corner back with players like Craig Morgan and Johnny Ryan vying for the other corner.

Bryan O’Mara seems the obvious option for number six, with recent trends suggesting that Michael Breen and Conor Bowe are being favoured for the flanks. Both are athletic and mobile, seen as attacking wing backs in the modern mould. Bowe especially has that burning pace, as well as a scoring ability when he darts forward.

Eoghan Connolly could come into the reckoning for half back too, though he played midfield on Sunday and earned favourable comment. By contrast Alan Tynan was wing forward against Limerick after spending significant time at midfield in the past. Barry Heffernan is also an option in this area, as is Willie Connors.

In attack John McGrath’s early season form hasn’t gone unnoticed. He’s coming off a few “down” seasons, where injury was part of the problem, so it will be a major boost to the team if he sustains recent impressions. Gearoid O’Connor is also a half forward probable, though the Fitzgibbon Cup is a distraction at the moment.

Otherwise, the likes of Jake Morris and Mark Kehoe are likely starters, with Sean Ryan impressing over the winter. He’s seen as one with the potential to develop into a regular of real attacking threat. Andrew Ormond too has been showing form. ‘Bonner’ Maher remains a durable contender as well.

What eventually emerges to line up against Dublin on Saturday is likely to be a mix of the above, perhaps with the addition of others I haven’t referenced.

The Dillon Quirke Foundation game last Sunday was a lively workout. Limerick brought their B team whereas Tipperary gave game-time to many regulars. That difference was reflected in the outcome.

The first half goals were the crucial items. A John McGrath penalty delivered the first after a very soft award to Mark Kehoe. The second was a neat combination movement, with Kehoe and Andy Ormond involved before McGrath once again supplied the finish. Ormond got in for the third and there might well have been a few more in that half.

The six-point cushion at half time was never seriously threatened in the second period and then it extended to double digits later as the contest fizzled out. In the nature of these events, it was a lively exercise but I wouldn’t flatter it beyond that. Danny Slattery was most unfortunate to suffer hamstring damage.

One noticeable trend with the Tipp team is this focus on a passing/running game rather than the traditional direct style. To quote Brendan Behan in his most famous short story, “You might as well be out of the world as out of fashion,” so I guess this style is a glimpse of the future and we may as well get used to it. Its first test will come on Saturday in the tight confines of Parnell Park.