“If we don’t get something out of Ennis that will have a big bearing on what happens later on,” Tipperary manager Liam Cahill says ahead of Sunday’s opening game in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship against Clare.
Reacting to suggestions that many observers of the game are tipping his side to finish in the top three in the province, and qualify for the All-Ireland championship, he says “Everyone is entitled to their opinion and it is encouraging and great to be in the mix.
“But this championship, as we all well know, can throw up anything, so form can go out the window if you are not at the races in your first game, and we have a really tough assignment in Ennis”.
Twelve months ago, Cahill’s Waterford team beat Cork in the Allianz National League final. However, they made an early exit from the championship, their only victory coming against the county that he now manages.
Has that experience changed his approach to the round robin this season?
“It is intense, everyone knows that.
“For me, I am not changing a whole lot. Myself and (coach) Mikey Bevans have continued to do what we believe in. We will continue to stick to what we believe will work. The end of the Munster Championship will prove whether we got it badly wrong last year or not”.
Did he find it difficult to summon the energy to take on the challenge of managing Tipperary so soon after leaving Waterford?
“For any of these jobs you have to have massive energy. You come off a testing three weeks in the Waterford role, where ultimately things didn’t go to plan. It does have an effect on you energy-wise.
“Having said that, when the opportunity came and I was approached by Tipperary, knowing what happened in the past as regards not taking on the role, energy levels rose very quickly. So it was an easy transition for me a couple of weeks after the announcement.
“When a guy can get his head around picking the people and putting the right structures in place, it works seamlessly enough after that to get back the energy levels required to drive a high performance environment like this, day in, day out.
“I have no worries in that regard. I am really looking forward to the task ahead and hopefully my term will be an energetic one and a successful one.
“There is a lot more work involved now for a manager and a coach and management team of an inter-county team versus a number of years ago. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, a lot of hours invested in analysis of yourself number one, and then the opposition you are meeting.
“I think the players require that now, they really look for feedback and direction.
“If you come into training with your hands swinging and you haven’t a plan in place, then players are putting in too much of an effort for that and will sniff you out and you’ll pay the price as a manager and a coach”.
Where do Tipp sit now compared to when he took the job?
“We are probably a bit further ahead. The one plus myself and Mikey Bevans have is we would have worked with a high percentage of these players before.
“Even though we didn’t prepare at the same intense levels that are required for senior hurling than at minor and under 21 level, the players know us and know what we are trying to achieve, even at that early stage of their career.
“I am not really surprised that the players have hit the ground running in that regard, as they know what we are trying to do because of knowing what we were about as a management team previously.
“It is obviously a job of work because Munster is massively competitive. Last year we were bottom of the pile and we’ll have it all to do to get back to dining at the top table. We have a nice bit done but a good bit more to do”.
Does he agree that hurling as a spectacle has been diminished in the modern game?
“It is hard to argue against that, to be honest.
“But you take last year’s Munster Final and All-Ireland Final. They were brilliant spectacles as well so I have a feeling this championship will be a really good championship. There are going to be a number of really good games in it.
“For all hurling people we need a good championship this year, with more close games with plenty of raw emotion in them. There are lots of games coming between well-established teams in great venues that will contribute and support that, so you’d be hopeful there will be some crackers to rejuvenate everybody.
“The league has led to that kind of a mindset in people who are looking at matches in February and March as drab affairs, as teams are trying out players and trying different things in poorer conditions, and suddenly there is a lot of analysis around it and a big thing made of it.
“Now, once the long evenings are in and the good weather is here, the game of hurling will look after itself over the next couple of months”.
A tough start to the round robin means that his team have two away games (against Clare and Cork) before taking on Limerick and Waterford at FBD Semple Stadium.
“That’s the draw and what can you do. You have to be ready but the plus side of it is, if we get something out of those two games it puts us in the great position for when we return to Thurles”.
As Tipperary get ready for the cauldron that will be Cusack Park on Sunday, he says “While I didn’t play championship in Ennis myself, I did play two rounds of the league in my time and they were packed houses, and is a really brilliant environment from a player and spectator point of view.
“It is very intense and Clare pride themselves on performing and winning in Ennis. The supporters row in behind that too and make it a tough environment for the opposition.
“We’ll discuss that and will be aware of that.
“Some of these guys will have played there at underage up along in tough assignments as well, so we are well aware of what Clare will bring and we have to be 100 percent right to get anything out of this game, as it is a tough assignment.
“It is long term for a number of players that are on the panel. I have always said that we in Tipperary are in the business of winning matches, and then winning Munster Championships and All-Irelands. That’s what we grew up on and is what we try to aspire to every day we go out.
“I am not for one second saying that we are not going out to try and win whatever silverware is on offer.
“There are quite a number of new players that, however good they are now, will be a lot better in two or three years’ time”.
