By Shane Brophy
When the Tipperary senior hurling year is reviewed, this game won’t carry much weight but as a starting point, there were certainly plenty of positive indicators.
When playing a team such as Laois where you are expected to win, and doing so comfortably, complacency is a teams greatest fear from which games prove to be more trickier than they are on paper. Well, paper and play were aligned for Tipperary on this occasion as their attitude was spot on, right from the start as they made easy work of a very disappointing Laois challenge.
Liam Cahill’s charges won’t have an easier game for the rest of the year so as league starters go, two points and a plus twenty point difference, is a good start. The application and workrate was good, the only negatives being the eighteen wides, the lack of a test, and injuries.
Tipperary couldn’t worry about what Laois would or wouldn’t bring and assessing the first half is what we can take from this game as it was challenge match stuff in the second period, Tipp easing off the gas, despite adding another 1-15, but they got sloppy in what they did and started taking wrong options, but things like that happen in games as easy as this.
So when the game was there to be won in the first half, there was a lot to like about Tipperary. Firstly, their physical shape was impressive. Fitness, or lack of, was an issue last year but this should not be in 2023 as they are a powerful side, even the likes of Ronan Maher look as lean as he has in a long time, and you could never say he wasn’t to the level he should have been.
With that level of power and fitness, they were able to work the ball quickly, both through the hands, and direct into space. There were always options for the man in possession, particularly out of the half back line where they worked in threes, much like Limerick do, to create openings for a shot at goal, although eighteen wides, some of them decent opportunities, was a black mark on the evening but that can be worked on.
It's early days in terms of hints towards what Tipperary’s best fifteen might be but even in games like these players have to take their opportunity and show their willingness to work.
In goal, Barry Hogan had a comfortable evening with no save of note to make, while his shorter puckouts tended to find their range.
In the full back line, Cathal Barrett remains as tenacious as ever while debutante Johnny Ryan was solid in the other corner but needs a proper test to see if he is ready for this level. The same goes for Michael Breen who was strong and forceful at full back, but it still too keen sometimes to win the ball and his one mistake almost let Laois in for a goal chance in the first half but Martin Phelan’s poor touch let him down.
That Ronan Maher started at centre back might be hint to Liam Cahill’s future thinking and he played well, but it was easy to on the evening, while Bryan O’Mara and Brian McGrath were strong on the wings, although the latter’s momentum looks set to be halted with a hamstring injury picked up late in the game.
The same ailment struck Conor Stakelum just after half time, but a more severe one and could be out for a period of time which would be a blow for him and the team as the Thurkes Sarsfields clubman was superb once more, and is as good as nailing down a midfield spot for himself. He reads the game superbly and fits the modern midfielder who can get up and down the field, plus take a score, three of them on the evening, along side Noel McGrath who was quiet.
Tipperary started three league debutantes in attack, and all contributed handsomely. Gearoid O’Connor top scored with eleven points, three from play, but is a powerful unit. He has filled out massively and certainly adds presence to the half forward line, along side Seamus Kennedy who continues to settle in well there, while Cian O’Dwyer was busy, scoring two points and will be frustrated not to add more.
Sean Ryan also scored two points but his willingness for work and his strength to win dirty ball was impressive, a number of times winning possession with a defender all over him.
John McGrath had a solid return in his first start after over nine months out through injury. He looked lean and sharp.
The biggest plus was the impact of Patrick Maher at full forward. Tipp had fourteen different scorers on the evening and the Lorrha man wasn’t one of them, but he was so impactful as a creator. Every time he got on the ball, he took the right option but the key is he had options with support runners like flies to him each time, including Seamus Kennedy for his twelfth minute goal. Between open play and frees in the first half, he was directly involved in 1-5. When the game lost its shape in the second half, his influence wasn’t as great but as a focal point for the attack, he was hugely impressive.
We all know this Tipperary squad are talented and Liam Cahill will be happy by the impact of the bench with four of the five subs getting on the scoresheet, contributing 1-5 between them, with Jake Morris scoring 1-2 in his brief cameo.
With so many options in attack, Tipp can only benefit from competition for places, and there is still Jason Forde and Seamus Callanan to return, the latter by all accounts is motoring well.
No one will be getting too carried away with themselves as there will be stiffer tests to come, starting with Kilkenny next Sunday, but there was certainly enough evidence to suggest that Tipp are a long way further along the road compared to where they were this time last year, looking fit, focused, playing to an identifiable style, and one which the players are buying into. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the foundations look stable!
