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Irish Examiner
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Bonner Maher sees no summer sag in Liam Cahill's methods
It's been a nagging criticism of Liam Cahill's teams over the years, that they burn a little too brightly in winter and spring, only to fade out in the summer. Hurling pundit Brian Carroll went in hard on the issue last January after reports of Cahill's Tipperary panel engaging in spartan winter training. "This is year six of Liam Cahill doing the same thing over and over again on repeat," claimed Carroll. "It's like, dog them in the winter, take it really seriously during the league, and then they run out of steam come June." Tipp did contest this year's league final, standing up Carroll's argument somewhat, but, crucially, their form hasn't dipped in the Championship. They're even breaking new ground of sorts, stringing together three wins in a row in the Championship for the first time since winning the All-Ireland in 2019. And if they beat Galway on Saturday evening, they'll be through to a first semi-final in six years. No signs then of any summer slippage. "The way the Championship is in Munster, you're trying to peak early because Munster is so competitive," said three-time All-Ireland winner Patrick Bonner Maher who played under Cahill last year before retiring. "I wouldn't believe that (criticism) at all. I would have always thought we were in fairly good shape and I wouldn't have seen it petering out, so I can't really comment on that myself. I certainly wouldn't have seen it." Cahill addressed the criticism himself when talking to reporters after Tipp's league win over Kilkenny last March. "People say Tipperary under Liam Cahill will win matches in the spring but can they do it in the summer?" noted Cahill. In a separate interview, he said people think that Cahill 'kills them in training and has them flogged to death before the Championship' comes around. The former Tipp underage guru said the reality last year, when they failed to get out of the Munster group, was that they actually 'hadn't enough work done'. Maher noted that Tipp 'went hard at it early this year and the fruits of that are being shown now' with last weekend's preliminary quarter-final demolition of Laois setting up the Galway date. So were Tipp undercooked last year, as Cahill suggested? "I'm not 100 percent sure," shrugged Maher. "Looking back on it now, it's easy to pick out things that could possibly have gone wrong or left us short. We would have felt we were fairly fit." Tipp looked fresh and fully tuned in when putting 3-32 on the board against Laois last Saturday. Their challenge now is to maintain that high energy rate and to avoid a repeat of their 2023 quarter-final defeat to Galway. They were coming off a big preliminary quarter-final win back then too. "I remember that game down in Limerick, we were fully primed," said Maher. "One or two things just went against us, goals went against us, and it just deflated us on the day." Bonner, 35, will look on this time as an interested spectator. After 16 years as a Tipp senior, he's content with the decision he made to step away. "The body is very good thankfully," he said. "I'm playing a good bit of golf, training away, running away." He's busy at work too, with an EV charging company having finished up with the Irish Army. "I actually found out I was a coeliac," he explained of his departure from the army. "You can't serve in the army being a coeliac so I was medically discharged. I was lucky that I had my degree and masters to fall back on. It kind of pivoted my direction. That's where I'm at." * Former Tipperary hurler Patrick Bonner Maher was speaking at the launch of the 2025 Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor championships.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Joe Canning: Everything is coming together for Tipperary at the right time
At other times of the year, momentum is something that you can build towards. At this time of the season, nobody wants to be looking for it. The reality with the hurling quarter finals , though, is that at least two teams arrive damaged every year, and a third team are probably licking their wounds too. This year, Tipperary are the team coming with their tails up. Even though they finished third in Munster, there's hardly a mark on them. They haven't lost a game since they were beaten by Cork at the end of April, and that game was a free hit once Darragh McCarthy was sent off in the first minute. That's the only game they've lost since the league final. In the last couple of months, everything has come together. They were very good against Limerick , good enough against Waterford , excellent against Clare and professional against Laois . Their under-20s won a brilliant All-Ireland against Kilkenny and the crowds have come back. The whole mood has changed. Liam Cahill started the season pleading with the Tipp supporters to get behind the team. The memory of them being outnumbered five-to-one by Cork supporters for a game in Thurles last summer would still have been fresh in his mind. READ MORE The embarrassment of that day is long gone. There were four teams in Portlaoise last Saturday for a hurling and football double-header and the biggest crowd was from Tipp, even though everyone knew they were going to win handy. For the first time since early in 2023, Tipperary have momentum. There's an energy about them. Half a dozen of the under-20s are on the senior panel and three of them have made a breakthrough this year: McCarthy, Sam O'Farrell and Oisín O'Donoghue. Tipp needed that injection of freshness. They have more consistency in key positions, and they needed that stability too. Ronan Maher is no longer going around putting out fires: he's their number six and that's it. Eoghan Connolly is the established full back now, even though there is a doubt about his fitness for this weekend. Jake Morris and Andrew Ormonde have been effective at centre forward at different times and both of them have been terrific. John McGrath has come back in from the margins and has had a brilliant championship at full-forward, and his brother Noel has influenced games off the bench. The only big change they've made during the championship has been with the goalie. Otherwise, the spine of the team has been settled. Tipp haven't had that for a long time. Tipp is the kind of place where confidence tends to take off. When the provincial championships were finished, I saw Tipp supporters online mapping out their path to Croke Park: Laois, Galway, then Cork. In their minds, Laois and Galway were just stepping stones. When the Tipp crowd came back, that kind of thinking was going to come with them. Micheál Donoghue made it clear that Galway didn't play in the Leinster final the way they had planned. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho Galway are not in that place at the moment. I didn't think they'd beat Kilkenny in the Leinster final , but I thought they'd bring a performance. I don't think anybody thought it would be like the game in Nowlan Park a few weeks earlier. For an hour it was just as bad. Galway have been here before, coming into a quarter final on the back of a disappointing Leinster final. The pattern, though, is that Galway have usually come up with something. The last time Galway lost at this stage of the championship was in 2013, when Clare beat us. Since then, Galway's record is five from five. I can't remember any year when we were bouncing into the quarter finals feeling great about ourselves. In 2016 we had been poor against Kilkenny in the Leinster final and were hammered in the media afterwards, but we still came out and beat Clare. Galway blew a Leinster final against Kilkenny two years ago but played very well against Tipp in the quarter-final two weeks later. When you look back at the teams from that match, Tipp have made more changes than Galway in the last two years. I've heard people say that Galway are still depending on players from the 2017 team for leadership, and it's hard to argue with that: the two Mannions, the two Burkes, Conor Whelan. [ Tipperary are back in the groove and Jake Morris admits county minors helped light the spark Opens in new window ] But how many leaders do you need on a team? It's a funny thing. Before we won the All-Ireland in 2017, people were always saying that we lacked leaders. Players from the team of the late 1980s – the last Galway team to win an All-Ireland before us – were always giving interviews, pointing out what we were lacking. It used to drive me mad. New leaders will emerge in this group too but it's hard for younger players to step into that role when results haven't been great. Since the 2017 All-Ireland final, Galway have won just one championship game in Croke Park – against Wexford in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. For the last few years Galway have been coming up short in big matches. In that environment, it's not easy for young players to flourish. I'm certain that Galway will come up with something this weekend. After the Leinster final Micheál Donoghue made it clear that Galway didn't play the way they had planned. They've had a fortnight to sort that out. They obviously need more from their forwards: not just a higher work rate, but more scores. The whole package. Cathal Mannion's form has been outstanding but whatever he scores won't be enough unless others chip in. [ Galway's Fintan Burke bullish in advance of championship quarter-final against Tipp Opens in new window ] When Galway and Tipp met in the quarter final two years ago Conor Whelan scored 1-4 from play. That year he was playing in his customary position close to goal; this year he has been playing in the half-forward line. They need him there as a target for puck-outs, but it also means Galway's threat close to goal has been reduced. That's a hard balancing act. I'm convinced that we'll see a positive response from Galway on Saturday. I hope the Galway crowd turn up, but I wouldn't be sure about that. The Tipp crowd definitely will. They're on a roll. It might not stop this weekend.
The 42
2 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Jake Morris: 'We were embarrassed, a lot of soul-searching done over the winter'
AMIDST THE STRUGGLES that the Tipperary hurlers have endured over the past few seasons, the disconnect between those on the pitch and those in the stands was evident. When they breezed to a comfortable win in late January over Galway in the league, manager Liam Cahill touched on that subject that day in Salthill when appealing to crowds to get behind a team that he was trying to develop. 'I'd ask the Tipp supporters to be brave as well and come out and support them. There's not much bravery in going up to Croke Park every year over the last decade for semi-finals and All-Irelands and all that. 'They're easy things to do and I think regardless whether people believe in Liam Cahill and his coaching team or his coaching philosophy, these players will be around long after I'm gone. 'They're the catalyst to everything that gives us the joy that is being a Tipperary supporter so get in behind them, support them and they'll respond.' Almost five months on and there is a shift in the mood that is easy to detect. The recent All-Ireland U20 title win was a boost for the future, qualifying from the Munster senior round-robin bearpit was a positive for the present. Last year saw Tipperary in error mode as they failed to win a game in the province and shipped some heavy beatings, most noticeably when conceding 4-30 against Cork in Thurles. They have looked revitalised this season and forward Jake Morris can sense the fanbase rowing in behind them. Advertisement 'It's massive. You're down the home straight of a match down in Ennis and in Semple Stadium the last day against Waterford and you hear the chanting going, 'Tipp, Tipp, Tipp' and you know that they're going to roar you out over the line. 'All Tipperary supporters are very fair, they just want to see a team that are battling hard and giving it their all. That's why they're getting behind us now, because it's a team that they can enjoy going to watch.' Morris feels it has been a gradual process in regaining that support. 'It's been week-on-week in the league where we've been giving performances and we've been trying hard. The battling and the desire to hurl for Tipperary has been evident in players that are putting on the jersey. 'I don't think there was an exact turning point. Getting to the league final was nice. Drawing against Limerick probably did plant the seed with a lot of Tipp supporters that, 'Ok these lads, they mean business, they're competitive again'.' Tipperary supporters cheer on the arrival of their team at Cusack Park, Ennis. Natasha Barton / INPHO Natasha Barton / INPHO / INPHO The fallout from last season was difficult for the Tipperary player group with a lot of time for contemplation of what direction they were going in. Avoiding the scrutiny of a demanding Tipperary public was not an option. 'We were embarrassed walking around. You have to go to work, you can't hide away. We were in the trenches after last year. We had to deal with it face on and take our constructive criticism. 'There was a lot of soul-searching done over the winter. A lot of hard looks in the mirror and seeing what can be done more. To be fair, lads have done it and so have the management team. They have come with us every way in this journey. It hasn't been pointed just at the players, they've taken on the flack as well and together as a unit, we've worked hard and we've got ourselves into this situation now where we're still alive in the championship.' Tipperary manager Liam Cahill dejected during last year's game against Cork. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO If there was a spark that ignited them, perhaps it was late June last year when the county's minor team won the All-Ireland final in heroic fashion in Nowlan Park, overcoming the setback of two red cards to emerge victorious against Kilkenny. 'I was down in Nowlan Park myself that day,' remarks Morris. 'It was in terms of looking at a team that fought on their backs together, a united team, a good battling Tipperary team, that never-say-die attitude. You never mind losing a game as long as you've shown up and you've performed and you've fought on your back and you can come away together on the bus afterwards and you can look at each other. 'The manner of some of the defeats last year wasn't acceptable. There was a bit of lessons taken from looking at 16 and 17-year-olds performing last year in Nowlan Park.' Tipperary's Jake Morris celebrates a score against Limerick in the Munster SHC. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Morris is one of the survivors from Tipperary's last All-Ireland final success, coming off the bench as a youngster and firing over a point in that tie with Kilkenny. He was conscious this year of stepping up. Galway are the upcoming challenge in Saturday's quarter-final. 'Look, I've been around since 2018. I know I only turned 26 there a couple of weeks ago, but I've seen a lot. Leadership is off the field and on the field and we've a lot of good leaders in that dressing room. 'I think for myself it was just a look in the mirror and to say I need to do more. It's not about giving big, massive speeches in the dressing room. It's about leading on the field and that's consciously what I was trying to go after.' 'We're well used to the knockout hurling. You lose and you're done. You're playing for your life at this stage.' *****
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Tipperary are back in the groove and Jake Morris admits county minors helped light the spark
Inspiration can stem from any multitude of places or exploits. For the Tipperary senior hurlers, it just happened to be from the Tipperary minor hurlers. Jake Morris, the current Premier County senior vice-captain, was in attendance at the All-Ireland minor final last June when 13-man Tipp overcame Kilkenny after extra-time at Nowlan Park. That victory came just five weeks after the seniors had seen their 2024 campaign unravel, crashing to an ignominious early-season conclusion after failing to win a single game in the Munster SHC . 'I was down in Nowlan Park myself that day and there's no point in saying otherwise – we were embarrassed walking around,' recalled Morris. READ MORE 'You have to go to work, you can't hide away. We were in the trenches after last year, we had to deal with it face-on and take our constructive criticism and move on. 'There was a lot of soul-searching done over the winter, a lot of hard looks in the mirror and seeing what could be done.' But watching the Tipp minors rally back after having two players sent off proved to be a spark for the county, with current senior boss Liam Cahill previously referencing the impact of that underage All-Ireland triumph. Morris says it was the manner of the victory more than anything that resonated with the senior players. It's massive, when you're coming down the home straight of a match down in Ennis or in Semple Stadium and you hear the chanting going — Jake Morris 'It was in terms of looking at a team that fought on their backs together, a united team, a good battling Tipperary team, that never-say-die attitude,' he explained. 'That's what was taken from that day. You never mind losing a game as long as you've shown up and you've performed and you've fought on your back and you can come away together on the bus afterwards and you can look at each other. 'The manner of some of the defeats last year wasn't acceptable. I suppose that's where there were some lessons taken from looking at 16- and 17-year-olds performing last year in Nowlan Park.' The county's seniors have certainly performed this season. Cahill's side posted two wins and a draw in the Munster senior hurling championship to finish third in the group. Tipperary players celebrate after beating Clare in last year's Munster minor hurling final at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photograph: Ken Sutton/Inpho Last weekend they hammered Laois by 23 points to set up an All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway this Saturday at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, 6.15pm. And one of the more noticeable aspects of Tipp games this year has been a growing, returning, fanbase – something that has been recognised by the players. 'It's massive, when you're coming down the home straight of a match down in Ennis or in Semple Stadium and you hear the chanting going, 'Tipp, Tipp, Tipp', and you know that they're going to roar you out over the line,' said Morris. 'I suppose all Tipperary supporters are very fair, they just want to see a team that are battling hard and giving it their all and that's what we're doing this year. I suppose that's why they're getting behind us now, because it's a team that they can enjoy going to watch.' [ 'They do an incredible job': GAA president Jarlath Burns defends CCCC after Jim McGuinness criticism Opens in new window ] Despite being only 26, Morris is acknowledged as one of the real leaders within the Tipp squad. The Nenagh Éire Óg clubman made his Tipp senior debut in 2018. 'Leadership is off the field and on the field and we've a lot of good leaders in that dressingroom,' he said. 'For myself, it was just taking a look in the mirror and saying I need to do more on the field. It's not about giving big, massive speeches in the dressingroom; it's about leading on the field and that's consciously what I was trying to go after.' If Cahill is hoping to create new heroes over the coming seasons, there is little doubt that Noel McGrath remains a colossus within the squad. 'Noel is worth so much to us inside there, he's so good with all the younger lads,' said Morris. 'He'll give you his last bit of energy and he's just such a good lad to have around the dressingroom and then you can see what he does on the field. 'He's like a fine wine, he's getting better. He's a really important player for us, he's been such a good hurler for Tipperary over the years and he just continues to give and give and give.'
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
'We were embarrassed walking around' Tipp star on how minor team showed the way
Last month, Tipperary manager Liam Cahill referenced last year's All-Ireland minor final and how it visited embarrassment on him. Five weeks after his side had exited the Championship with a whimper after a winless campaign, their under-17s dug out a truly remarkable extra-time win over Kilkenny having had two players sent off in the first half of normal time. 'I was so happy to be a Tipperary man but I was also so embarrassed that our flagship team didn't follow that and set that trend, that we had to rely on a group of younger players in Tipperary to show us the Tipperary way,' Cahill noted after the win over Waterford on May 18 guaranteed that they would be playing knockout hurling this year. But he wasn't the only person attached to the senior set-up that experienced similar emotions at that minor final. Jake Morris felt it too. 'Definitely,' said Morris. 'I was down in Nowlan Park myself that day and there's no point in saying it, we were embarrassed walking around. 'Players are in the trenches. You have to go to work, you can't hide away. We were in the trenches after last year. 'We had to deal with it face on and take our constructive criticism and move on and look in the mirror. 'There was a lot of soul-searching done over the winter. A lot of hard looks in the mirror and seeing what can be done more. To be fair, lads have done it and so have the management team. 'They have come with us every way in this journey. It hasn't been pointed just at the players, they've taken on the flack as well and together as a unit, we've worked hard and we've got ourselves into this situation now where we're still alive in the Championship and that's ultimately what we aim for.' Morris doesn't hang Tipperary's progress on any one moment, but that minor final was a significant staging post all the same. 'It was in terms of looking at a team that fought on their backs together, a united team, a good battling Tipperary team, that never-say-die attitude. 'That's what was taken away [from] that day. We never mind losing games and any of the boys there will tell you, you never mind losing a game as long as you've shown up and you've performed and you've fought on your back and you can come away together on the bus afterwards and you can look at each other. 'The manner of some of the defeats last year wasn't acceptable. That's, I suppose, where there was a bit of lessons taken from looking at 16 and 17-year-olds performing last year in Nowlan Park.' Morris recently turned 26 and is now in his eighth season on the senior panel. He recognised that he couldn't look elsewhere for leadership, particularly amid a swathe of experienced players having departed over the past couple of seasons. 'I think for myself it was just a look in the mirror and to say, 'I need to do more, I need to do more on the field'. 'It's not about giving big, massive speeches in the dressing room. It's about leading on the field and that's consciously what I was trying to go after.' Perhaps the lowest point was in last year's Championship when Cork inflicted an 18-point beating in Thurles, with the vast majority of the near capacity crowd in Semple Stadium wearing red. But the Tipp support has rowed in behind the team this year and have been rewarded, with that win over Waterford their first at home in the Championship in six long years. They made light work of Laois last weekend and now an All-Ireland quarter-final awaits against Galway on Saturday. 'It's massive,' says Morris of the swell in support. 'You're down the home straight of a match down in Ennis and in Semple Stadium against Waterford and you hear the chanting going, 'Tipp, Tipp, Tipp' and you know that they're going to roar you out over the line. 'I suppose all Tipperary supporters are very fair, they just want to see a team that are battling hard and giving it their all and that's what we're doing this year and I suppose that's why they're getting behind us now, because it's a team that they can enjoy going to watch. 'I think it's been a slow, steady process where it's been week-on-week in the League where we've been giving performances and we've been trying hard and I think it's been just coming from that. 'Week-on-week, the performances have been getting better and better and the battling and the desire to hurl for Tipperary has been evident in players that are putting on the jersey and I think it's just been a work in progress there. 'I don't think there was an exact turning point. I suppose getting to the League final was nice. Drawing against Limerick probably did plant the seed with a lot of Tipp supporters that, 'Ok these lads, they mean business, they're competitive again' but I don't think there was exactly one moment. 'I think it's just been a lot of hard work since the start of the year.'
