'A time will come that I cannot let my heart keep ruling my head' - Tipp boss David Power

Munster Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final

Tipperary v Waterford

Easter Sunday, April 9 at 2 pm

What will most likely be a Munster senior football championship campaign done and dusted by the end of April, begins on Sunday next for Tipperary with a quarter-final game against Waterford in FBD Semple Stadium (2 pm throw-in). If Tipp win they will advance to take on All-Ireland champions Kerry in the semi-final in Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney on Saturday, April 22.

Tipp come into this Easter Sunday clash with the Déise following on from what their manager David Power described as a “frustrating league in terms of results and injuries” and he is hoping that summer football, via the Tailteann Cup “will give the squad a chance to get something out of a disappointing year to date”.

Looking back on the league campaign, the Tipp boss had somewhat mixed feelings despite the fact that results didn’t go his side’s way. “There were certain games over the league that I felt we didn’t have that bit of luck needed. I thought we should have got something from the Down game the first night - and Conor (Sweeney) got injured and is out for the year - and against Cavan we were brilliant at the start and could have had two more goals. Had either of those gone in at the time it might have been a different day. We then conceded what can only be described as a comical goal to them, and heads went down.

“The Antrim game in Thurles was admittedly our worst performance, we just never got going against them. Even the day against Offaly we felt we left it behind us when we could only convert 13 points from 27 shots, while they scored 2-14 from 20 shots. That in itself summed up the frustration of our league in one game. Throughout the league we simply were not converting opportunities, and killing ourselves with silly and unforced turnovers in every game as well. On top of that, in certain games we seemed to fall asleep for periods, conceding scores, and then panic set in. Yeah, definitely frustrating at times,” added the Tipp manager.

Part and parcel of a manager’s job is trying to pick up the pieces when things aren’t going to plan and despite what has gone on over the last seven games, David Power is always the glass half-full type of coach. “Despite the setbacks, the mood is positive, we had a good chat about it last week amongst ourselves and cleared the air. I can’t fault the efforts and the attitudes of the lads, it is quite good. There is a determination there, amongst everyone, team and backroom, to try and put things right and training has been excellent.

“Look, it’s tough going at times. We actually fielded our strongest teams in the McGrath Cup this year in January, such has been the loss of personnel over the league and you end up putting out inexperienced players on the field earlier than you would have liked to, such has been the pressure. But for now, Tipperary are a side somewhere between the top of Division 4 and the bottom of Division 3 in terms of quality and panels, and that’s the reality of it”.

COMING HOME TO ROOST
“What’s coming home to roost now is the lack of underage success in recent years. Going back 10 and 12 years ago we were beating Cork and Kerry teams at underage and that is simply nowhere near happening these past few years. The young players coming through now, while they have great heart and attitude, they need more work and need more time. And another obvious downside is that the senior club championship in Tipperary is not as strong as it was in previous years. It all filters through in the end,” added David.
Tipp and Waterford met at the corresponding stage of the championship last year with Tipp winning comfortably enough in Dungarvan (2-13 to 1-8). Tipp also won well in the McGrath Cup in January this year, so without delving too much into the clash on Sunday it is the following day, for whoever it may be, that will be a David (Power?) v Goliath clash in Killarney. Between them in the league this year, Tipp and Waterford only had one victory by either team - Waterford defeating London in Lemybrien.

ALL IRELAND CHAMPIONS

Asked about the benefits, if any, of having to face the All-Ireland champions in their own backyard and what could be gained from it, the Tipperary boss said.

“Honestly, and realistically, we are preparing for the Tailteann Cup now and hoping for a run in it. Going to Killarney is not going to be simple, to put it simply, but if we are to face Kerry it will be all about trying to get a performance on the day. Look, we won’t be lining up man-on-man or anything like that, and the result won’t make or break our season in any way. If we get over Waterford we would get ourselves ready as best we can, set up properly for the task in hand and make it as hard as we are capable of for Kerry. That’s all any manager can do, prepare his side as best he can,” added the Kilsheelan/Kilcash clubman.

There might be some little glints of good luck coming Tipp’s way on the injury front, as they get ready for Waterford on Easter Sunday.

“Steven O’Brien is recovering from his injury and is more or less ready to resume full training again. Paul Maher will be back soon and Conal Kennedy is not a million miles off being ready. Getting a few big men on the field is always positive. There are about four or five there or thereabouts ready to go again and that will be a help for sure,” he added.

Taking into account the frustration of the league campaign just completed and the fact that he is now on the road as an inter- county manager, more or less, since the All-Ireland minor win of 2011, I put it to him was the appetite for involvement still there after 12 years or so on the go.

VERY TOUGH YEAR

“First and foremost I am a football man and I love Tipperary football, but sure this year has been very, very tough. The demands are huge and I know most, certainly everyone outside of football, have no idea of the huge time and commitment needed to manage an inter-county senior football team.

“I have a young family now and I certainly want to spend a lot more time with them. And from a work perspective things are busier than ever, we have a second office in Clonmel now and an office also in Tipperary Town. The time that needs to be given to doing the football job properly is huge and I must add that, for me anyway, it wouldn’t be possible without the excellent backroom team that we have in Tipperary. But I know too that a time will come, not sure when, that I cannot let my heart keep ruling my head. Mentally it is very taxing and physically taxing also. But for now, we will focus on the task in hand and Waterford in the Munster Championship”.

David also pointed out that “as much as I love being involved in Tipperary football, I have found some of the stuff that occasionally finds its way onto social media hurtful. The vast majority of these comments, obviously, are coming from people who probably never kicked a football in their lives and certainly never managed a county team.

“But sport - at amateur level anyway - is, and should be, just a hobby, it is not a job as such, it’s not a matter of life or death; we are in it to enjoy it and when the day comes when you can’t enjoy it it is a different matter. But I see it all the time, even at under 13, under 15, for some it is now a case of win, win, win at all costs. Sport is not about that for me, and it should not be like that for anyone else either”.