COMMENT: 'Bookies don’t give Tipperary a prayer...Cork are sizzling hot favourites'

The league is a much-derided entity in the GAA calendar. It’s often belittled as a meaningless competition, with some of the more severe critics prone to suggest that winning it actually diminishes your championship prospects.

The truth, as often happens, differs significantly from popular fiction. Clare found it no burden last year on their way to All-Ireland glory – in fact it enhanced their prospects.

Limerick too under John Kiely never regarded the league as inconsequential. Their five most recent All-Irelands were flanked by three league wins. Kilkenny under Cody always regarded the league as a desirable prize. Doing the league/championship double was an unarguable statement of their dominance.

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Tipperary’s rich legacy in the competition shouldn’t be overlooked either. We were once regarded as the league specialists in an era when John Doyle amassed an incredible 11 medals, a record which still stands.

As a county we still share top billing on the roll of honour alongside Kilkenny with 19 titles. More problematic is the fact that we’ve lost 20 league finals over the years, five of them during that golden decade from 2009 to 2019. I’m sure it’s an item of some regret for the players of that era who have their Munster and All-Ireland medals, as well as their All-Star awards, but no league medal.

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That’s the backdrop to Sunday’s clash at Páirc Uí Chaoimh between two counties who’ve lost the knack of winning league titles; Tipperary’s famine goes back to 2008, whereas for Cork it’s a 27-year gap all the way back to 1998.

For both counties then, but for different reasons, a league title is a very worthwhile prize. Cork are generally considered to be on the cusp of a major breakthrough, so winning a league would add substance to their revival. For Tipperary’s rebuilding mission this would be a huge statement of potential.

The bookies don’t give Tipperary a prayer. Cork are sizzling hot favourites at 3/10 whereas Tipperary are backable at 11/4.

Tipperary’s best fifteen has taken shape nicely during the five league rounds, with just a few spots open to speculation. Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly and Michael Breen are likely to front Barry Hogan in goal. Ronan Maher will be pivotal at number six with Bryan O’Mara and Joe Caesar in the frame for the flanks. Others like Brian McGrath and Seamus Kennedy might also come into the reckoning for half back.

On league evidence Craig Morgan and Willie Connors are well placed to start midfield, where Noel McGrath and Sam O’Farrell might also be in contention - as well as Darragh Stakelum, who impressed on being introduced the last day.

In attack Gearoid O’Connor, Jake Morris and Alan Tynan form a likely half line, with Darragh McCarthy sure to start on the full line. Thereafter players like Jason Forde, John McGrath and Dylan Walsh come into the reckoning.

The injury to Brian Hayes is a major loss to Cork but they’re well stocked with alternatives. Theirs is a team that has been building nicely, characterised by power and pace in equal measure. At their best they can slice you open and run in match-defining goals – they hit 10 in their final two league rounds and 15 over the span of the series.

We head south then on Sunday with some trepidation. I don’t buy this argument that it’s merely a dress rehearsal for a return visit on April 27. A league title is a rich prize on its own. Let’s go for it and see where it takes us.

Elsewhere, the underage championship season was launched last week, but without Tipperary cheer. The Under 20s and minors both got off to losing starts in home fixtures. The Under 20 failure to Limerick was particularly troublesome; the minor eclipse much less so against a strong Waterford formation.

That Under 20 defeat was a real shocker for the home fans. This is a side that carries our best hopes for the future and to see them misfire so poorly was a major knock-back for the county.

Let’s put this in context. With two minor wins in three years, Tipperary reached last year’s Under 20 All-Ireland decider where they fell to Offaly. Ten of the starting players in that Offaly game were again on duty at throw-in last week.

Add in Paddy McCormack and Jack Quinlan, who missed last year’s event through injury, and the number goes up to a dozen. Ciaran Foley started last year and came on as a replacement last week; Jack O’Callaghan and Joe Egan were other survivors from last year who also saw action this time.

The same team and the same management, a year older and a year wiser – we hoped. Yet evidence of progress was painfully lacking in this game.

From early in the action, it was obvious that the Tipperary team was labouring against a lively, well-drilled Limerick formation. We were slow coming to the play, getting easily bottled up and generally playing like a side that expected to win rather than one that was psyched-up for the challenge. Perhaps too many believed the betting odds of 1/12 on Tipperary.

We survived up to half-time, with the sides retiring on level terms, though it was very clear this was not going to expectation. We’d worked a few good scores, Adam Daly hitting two of the best in the half, but there was little method to our play generally. Limerick were ahead six-one on the wides tally, which was a telling stat.

Senan Butler might have had a goal approaching half-time but the first major fell to Limerick early in the third quarter. The visitors ran at our defence without too much bother and Matthew Fitzgerald provided the finish past Eoin Horgan.

We were really struggling now and could be grateful for Darragh McCarthy, who kept us in the hunt. The Toomevara lad hit all bar one of our second half flags but was having to forage outfield with no real goal threat inside.

Ultimately, it was the second goal, late in the hour, that sealed our fate. As with the first major, neither goalie nor defence will be happy watching a video review of Mark O’Brien’s finish.

Limerick deserved to win. They rattled the base of the post on another attack and there were several goalmouth scrambles where we were lucky not to spill more.

Ultimately it was a shapeless, tactically incontinent display from Tipperary, who repeatedly short-passed their way into difficulty and lacked the drive needed for championship hurling. When that happens the buck stops with management.
A major backlash is needed if their season is to be saved.

The minors too tasted defeat on their debut at this level, though the circumstances were entirely different. James Woodlock and his management team had to assemble a new formation following last year’s unforgettable All-Ireland win. Euan Murray was the only first-fifteen survivor.

Besides, they faced a Waterford side with a significant carry-over from last year. That advanced development was evident in physique as much as general play. Waterford came with high expectations and took away a major boost from the outcome. They appear to have a real star in the making in Cormac Spain.

Still, the Tipp lads disputed this one gamely throughout and with a bit more luck on goal chances they might have sneaked a win. Euan Murray, as the elder statesman of the group, led the way with four points from play, while Jack Cahill did well on frees after an initial blip.

With four of the five Munster sides advancing there’s still a lot to play for in this championship. I’d expect the team to improve as the series advances, starting with a trip to Cusack Park this Saturday.