Still room for Bubbles on Tipp panel if he proves his fitness

By Shane Brophy

Tipperary senior hurling manager Colm Bonnar hasn’t ruled out John O’Dwyer returning to the panel for the championship after he was left out of the 34-man squad announced for the National League.

A knee injury is the reason John O'Dwyer has been left out of the Tipperary panel for the moment, confirmed manager Colm Bonnar as the Killenaule clubman’s omission created plenty of surprise last week.

However, speaking on Tipp FM’s Across the Line with Shane Brophy last Friday night, Bonnar confirmed that injury is the reason.

“Who wouldn’t like to have John on their panel?” he began.

“I’ve been talking to John since December and he’s having trouble with his knee, and we got it scanned. It just developed, he tried the knee again out in early January in a challenge match and it was a lot worse than he thought.

“We are back to square one where we need to work on it again and get to what’s causing the issue, what’s causing the pain."

And Bonnar wouldn't rule out a reappearance this year for the Killenaule player if he is able to clear up the issue.

“There’s no one ever ruled out, and someone who has the skill level that Bubbles has and the experience that he has, it would be foolish to rule any player of that calibre out.”

There are seven new faces added to the panel from 2021 with recalls for previous panel members Cian Darcy, Ger Browne and Denis Maher, along with new faces defender Enda Heffernan, and forwards Conor Bowe, Gearoid O’Connor, Conor Stakelum and Dylan Walsh.

Niall O’Meara and Bryan O’Mara won’t be part of the panel as they are due to go travelling while Loughmore/Castleiney’s Ciaran Connolly declined an invite to come on board as he is travelling to the US for the summer, prior to furthering his education on his return.

The new Tipperary manager is happy with the make-up of his first squad, as well as their application in training so far with all players now back at Dr Morris Park, apart from Padraic Maher who is undergoing a separate program prior to returning and will miss the early rounds of the National League.

“It’s great for us to see the quality that is in there, from the younger lads to the most experienced lads, what they are giving to us on the field is jaw-dropping really,” Bonnar added.

“We did a lot of work over the last six weeks, moving from the Miller Shield to bringing in players to try them out. We needed to move forward quickly as the league is only two weeks away, so we had to refocus and the players that showed potential, and the more experienced lads coming back in, we got to a number of 34 and we are very happy with that.”

Bonnar also confirmed that many of the thirteen players who were cut from the training panel will now being part of a development squad which they will monitor throughout the year, and could be called into the panel depending on injuries and form.

“A good few of these players had injuries and didn’t get an opportunity to show what they had. These are all 20, 21, 22 years of age and could be future stars for Tipperary and is important we try and help them in their progress in terms of their athletic development, as the way the game is gone now, anyone that saw the game against Wexford in Carrick-on-Suir, the big hits that went in, unless you have the strength and conditioning done, a lot of these tackles, players won’t get up from.”

Off the back of the Munster League defeat to Kerry, Tipperary got the better of Darragh Egan’s Wexford in a challenge match last Sunday week, one of the most features was the workrate of the forwards in a defensive sense.

“It has to be foundation, that workrate, energy and ability to tackle has to be huge,” Bonnar said.

“Against Wexford, we had 24 turnovers from the forwards and midfield, and scored 1-17 off that so it shows how important tackling is.

“The day of bringing in a nice forward who can show his skills, that day is gone. The likes of Limerick and Waterford have shown that you need to be defensive and be able to attack in the space of a second.

He added: “When you put any player under pressure, mistakes will happen. We learnt that from the Kerry game, we went down with an inexperienced team, eight or nine players wearing the Tipperary jersey for the first time and Kerry brought a physicality and intensity to the tackle which didn’t give our boys a chance to settle.

“However, they learnt that very quickly and took those learnings on board the following week with similar players playing again and it was a different kettle of fish and a different attitude of what we are trying to do.”

Tipperary will begin their Allianz League Division 1 campaign on Saturday week, 5th January when they travel to MW Hire O’Moore Park in Portlaoise to take on Laois, with a 6.00pm throw-in.

Tipperary Senior Hurling panel

Barry Hogan Kiladangan

Brian Hogan Lorrha

Craig MorganKilruane MacDonaghs

Brian McGrathLoughmore-Castleiney

Cathal BarrettHolycross-Ballycahill

Eoghan ConnollyCashel King Cormacs

Ronan MaherThurles Sarsfields

Robert Byrne Portroe

Paddy Cadell JK Brackens

Barry HeffernanNenagh Eire Óg

Dillon Quirke Clonoulty/Rossmore

James QuigleyKiladangan

Enda HeffernanClonoulty/Rossmore

John MeagherLoughmore-Castleiney

Seamus KennedySt Marys

Dan McCormackBorris-Ileigh

Alan Flynn Kiladangan

Cian Darcy Kilruane MacDonaghs

Conor Bowe Moyne-Templetuohy

John McGrathLoughmore-Castleiney

Patrick MaherLorrha

Ger Browne Cashel King Cormacs

Mark Kehoe Kilsheelan/Kilcash

Michael BreeneBallina

Noel McGrathLoughmore-Castleiney

Padraic MaherThurles Sarsfields

Conor StakelumThurles Sarsfields

Jake Morris Nenagh Eire Óg

Gearoid O'Connor Moyne-Templetuohy

Dillon Walsh Ballingarry

Denis Maher Thurles Sarsfields

Jason Forde Silvermines

Paul Flynn Kiladangan

Seamus Callanan Drom & Inch