It's up to the Tipp players now, come closer than ever collectively or start looking after your own corner
Sunday was tough for all Tipperary people, watching the team being beaten emphatically by Clare with the contest over by the halfway point and our opponents on top in every sector.
Nobody will be hurting more than the players and management team and I can well imagine the devastation felt by all involved in the dressing room.
I have been in those dressing rooms on numerous occasions and it is hard to find the words or the energy when your stomach is churning and it feels like everything has crumbled down around you. I have huge admiration for every player in that dressing room and will be forever grateful for the effort they put in over my last three years involved, so far be it from me to dance on their graves.
They have an ambition for Tipperary to be always eating at the top table and will be gutted that their involvement in Championship 2022 looks destined to end prematurely. Having to face the All-Ireland champions in two weeks in their house is a daunting prospect even with Limerick's injuries, as their form in the first two games has been seriously impressive.
Tipp created the chances to turn over a subdued Waterford in Round 1 and that was certainly a missed opportunity. Last Sunday we never got to the pitch of the game and lacked energy all over the field, while also leaving so many chances behind us which is not at all like this group of players.
It's important to put things in perspective and note the challenges Colm Bonnar and his management team have faced. Brendan Maher retiring after 13 years followed by Pádraic Maher on medical grounds and then losing Seamus Callanan to a broken finger — three massive leaders no longer on the pitch or in the dressing room.
Bubbles has been magical on so many occasions since his arrival on the scene in 2013 and on top of that you are without the services of Niall O’Meara, Willie Connors and Bryan O’Mara, who all have proven pedigree at the top level.
They were hit with another hammer blow at the weekend with what looks a long-term injury to John McGrath and a problem for James Quigley that will have him doubtful for game-time in the short term.
I heard John Kiely talk about ‘next man up’ in terms of his injury difficulties, but when you are looking to get eight more up it becomes a serious challenge.
So Tipp are in a corner now and will certainly need to come out fighting in the final two games and ensure they leave everything on the pitch against last year’s All-Ireland champions and runners-up.
What is required when you find yourself in that awful position? I can well remember that empty feeling leaving the Gaelic Grounds on June 30th, 2019 after being beaten by 12 points and completely outplayed by Limerick in the final 20 minutes.
You stand on the pitch while the opposition are in full voice and endure the presentation. You are surrounded by your family, the players and their families who will stick by you through thick and thin, the good days and the bad days. You go back into the dressing room and you have to find the words that let them know you still believe in what we are doing and where we are going.
Everyone stands up and you form a circle and make a commitment to each other that everything possible will be done to ensure you do not feel like this again for the rest of the year. There’s a few drinks but you can’t really stomach them and you head home with everything going around in your head. All the what-if scenarios.
Yourself and the ceiling have another of those chats and the notes are prodded into the phone. A flood of things you will do differently and ways to steady the ship and get back on track.
You visit the gyms on Monday in Thurles and Nenagh that are full of players and you get a huge lift. You sense they still believe and were going to go at it hard. Three steps and seven weeks to win an All-Ireland was worth going for and they were up for it.
Training Tuesday night and the coaches delivered an incredible session with massive energy everywhere. Eamon, Tommy, Daragh and Eoin were in the zone and the players fed off their energy. We all know how things played out over the next 42 days and they got back up those steps to capture a third Liam MacCarthy in 10 years. A climb that looked a mountain away on June 30th was completed at 5.30pm on August 18th.
I try to put a finger on what made the difference and here is what I put the turnaround down to. Firstly, you must believe you can do something and the players certainly had that in spades.
You are faced with a situation where you can either come closer than ever before collectively or drift into looking after your own individual corner at the expense of the team. If you choose the latter it’s finished and will not end well.
That’s a small nagging worry about last Sunday. That I saw one or two signs, towards the end, of lads drifting away from the collective towards individual targets. It’s human nature, but it has no place if you are going anywhere.
Now is the time for leaders to step up inside and outside the white lines. Look at the hugely inspirational performances from Craig Morgan over the last two games. Leadership is all about taking action and the leadership shown by all 40 involved in 2019 ultimately made the difference.
You have to work your socks off in every aspect of preparation. Everyone in training needs to really put the overalls on and get stuck in for the good of the team.
There’s nuts and bolts stuff to fix, of course. Tipp will need a better defensive structure. They will have to manage a much better conversion rate, which was way off the standards these players have set themselves.
But first of all they have to come together.
When the dust settles in the coming weeks it might be an opportune time to visit the overall development structures within Tipperary to ensure we have the template to enable us to have a strong flow of talent coming through our player pathway.
Our players must be equipped with the skill, power and pace that are vital to challenge for honours in the modern game.
Cork have reaped rewards of an overhaul of their player pathways and development squads with significant success at underage level. Only time will tell if they can convert that to glory at senior level, but it certainly gives them a better chance.
We’re down. But I also think it is important to acknowledge how fortunate we have been as Tipperary people over the last couple of decades. The joy the players over this period have given to supporters across the county and in all parts of the world has been exceptional. They truly have been a golden generation.
What they have given and continue to give for the jersey is to be commended and my wish is that the players coming through continue to give a similar contribution and commitment to ensure we can look forward to many more great days.
