Selector Declan Laffan explains how Tipperary turned the tide
Declan Laffan is asked to reflect on the afternoon. An 18-point annihilation at home. The end of Tipp's season.
Sombering. Deflating. Embarrassing.
A collection of words thrown out by the selector to try and convey a most trying time for Tipperary hurling, the gamekeepers on the sideline, and the winless men inside the whitewash.
The club scene eventually arrived and shifted the conversation elsewhere. The inter-county conversation never stopped for Liam Cahill, Laffan, or anyone else in the under-pressure backroom.
The 2024 local championship threw in on the weekend, Armagh outlasted Galway to football glory.
A few days earlier, the Tipp management met in the county board offices at Lár na Páirce. Individually, they had been in constant contact in the two months since their fifth-place finish in Munster. Collectively, though, this was their first coming together.
Laffan remembers Liam having a very clear plan in his head and how he was going gung-ho after it. His 'strong character' wouldn't allow otherwise. They all bought in and signed up there and then.
Whatever backroom personnel were required to add or subtract in the plan's execution, they did without question.
Holding the wheel of the team bus for the two previous years, the onus was theirs to rediscover and recharge Tipp's identity. To once again make Tipp relevant in summer's hurling conversation.
'The responsibility to the jersey just wasn't good enough last year and that was really the driving factor of everybody together. It just wasn't acceptable, end of story, and we had to try and correct it,' Laffan begins.
'Let's be honest, that (2024) Cork defeat was particularly sombering. It really opened your eyes to what we did or didn't have. We were probably deflated in what we had done ourselves from top to bottom, and everybody wanted to buy in to correcting it. There were no ifs, buts, or maybes, if you were asked to do something, you did it.
'From Liam at the top to the last person in the backroom, everybody bought in and if it meant you had to stay two hours extra some night, you did it, and there was nothing about it. You just got on with it.
'We're reaping the rewards now. Being in an All-Ireland final, it's a wonderful place to be, but at the end of the day we've nothing won yet.'
Everyone bought into the Liam Cahill masterplan and now Tipp are one game away from lifting the Liam McCarthy Cup. File picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
The improvements from last year's winless run to this year's run to the decider are easily identified. A cheerier collection of words are thrown out on this occasion by the selector.
Tipp are 'fitter', 'stronger', 'mentally tougher'. Above all that, though, they are resilient.
Limerick made several second-half attempts to put a smidgen of daylight between themselves and the Premier on the opening Sunday of Munster fare. Tipp delivered an answer each time.
The then-championship debutant Darragh McCarthy held his nerve to deliver an injury-time share of the spoils.
On 63 minutes in Ennis three weeks later, a first-half lead of 12 was now completely erased. More answers, more resilience.
At the end of the third quarter against Waterford, they were hit for six points on the spin to see their six-point advantage removed.
They won by nine.
A deficit of players and a deficit on the scoreboard late on in their All-Ireland semi-final was another roadblock forcibly removed.
'People underestimate the value of that draw the first day against Limerick,' Laffan, a native of Loughmore-Castleiney, continued.
'That was a huge morale booster, and also it was a huge morale booster for the supporters because when you have support behind you it's worth an awful lot. It's great to see the supporters back in huge, huge numbers. Like, last Sunday week in Croke Park, it was 35,000-40,000 thousand Tipp people, which is phenomenal.'
One game we haven't referenced under the heading of resilience Laffan is very keen to have included.
'I still go back to that Cork game in the championship when we lost by 15 points, the day Darragh was sent off. At the end of the day, we played 75 or 76 minutes with 14 men. I thought we were really manful that day and I don't think the players got the credit they deserved that day.
'A team like Cork were really in their flow that day. It's so difficult to try and stem the tide with 15, never mind 14, and I just thought we were so manful in the second half and really stood up. We started to see the character that this team had, and look, fortunately, it's carried through.'
The local championship is delayed. The conversation remains fixed on inter-county matters. The conversation is positive, albeit a tinge of pessimism is to be heard here and there.
The good sitting room has been reclaimed and repainted. It could well be asked to stage a Monday homecoming.
'I do be out and about quite a bit with work, so I do meet quite a lot of people, and the humour county-wide is really special at the minute. There's no point in saying any different.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
16 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Will it rain at Croke Park for the All-Ireland final on Sunday and does it matter?
Will the rain make a difference Sunday? That was the first question posed by the audience at the recording of Dalo's Hurling Show in Sarsfields on Wednesday evening. The narrative appears to be forming that a rainy day might suit Tipp better. That conditions might slow down the match, and negate Cork's perceived pace advantage. And perhaps disrupt the slick exchanges of the Cork forwards that have delivered goals so far in this championship. There is also an age-old concern that Cork don't win in the rain, though surely Mark Landers and the 99 gang put that one to bed, beating Kilkenny 0-12 to 0-11 in a miserly game in miserable conditions. In the years since, current Cork selector Wayne Sherlock, who played that day, has relished that factor. "The fact that it was in the rain, too, that was important, because you'd always hear this thing that Cork couldn't play in the rain.' To Sunday, Met Eireann, by Thursday afternoon, has dialled back on its gloomiest predictions. Earlier in the week, Dublin was among the areas threatened with thundery conditions Sunday, as well as spot flooding, hail, and lightning. Now, light showers are on the menu for final day, even predicted to clear around the throw-in time of 3:30pm. So do Anthony Daly and Mark Landers think the weather will matter? "I think if it was in any other pitch other than Croker you'd be talking about it more. Croke Park is so insulated," Dalo maintained. "The pitch is bone dry. It is nearly artificial. It is hard to get the right studs. You saw the footballers slipping and sliding." But he's certainly not having the idea that conditions will level any skills gap. "I often think the better hurlers come to the fore in the rain. I think the fella with beter touch comes to the fore in wet conditions. When the hurley and ball are slippy." Landers is in agreement. "In the Killkenny-Tipp semi-final there was a tsumani in the middle of the first half. It was ferocious for 10 minutes, but the score still ended up 4-20 to 0-30. "It didn't stop the skill of the players on view. I think the players will adapt to any conditions Sunday. Whether it's sunny, windy, raining. I think the level of skill and performance now is so high that I don't think the weather will come into it. "The weather will be the same for both teams and I think both teams are really skillful."
RTÉ News
16 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
RTÉ GAA Podcast: All-Ireland Hurling final preview
Brendan Cummins and Jackie Tyrrell join Jacqui Hurley to look ahead to Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Tipperary. The Rebels are the favourites as they aim to put 20 years of hurt behind them, but Tipp will want to spring a surprise in the decider. How will the challengers approach it, and will they have learned from the way other teams set up? Or is it fate that Pat Ryan and Cork will end a difficult year with the Liam MacCarthy Cup?
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Watch: Cyril ‘The Bird' Kavanagh's All-Ireland Hurling final prediction
Cyril 'The Bird' Kavanagh, Cork's most recognisable superfan, shares his prediction for Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling final and reveals how he plans to celebrate when the Liam McCarthy Cup finally returns to Leeside.
