Same League mindset for Cahill
By Shane Brophy
For Tipperary manager Liam Cahill, this Saturday will be the first real indication of where his players are at as the competitive season gets underway in earnest with the start of the National Hurling League.
Speaking in the aftermath of the conclusion of their Munster League campaign against Kerry in a rain-sodden Tralee last week, the Ballingarry clubman was happy with where the panel are at in terms of being ready to hit the ground running.
“It’s like anything, we can train really hard and come back and say to each other we are ready now, let’s go, but it is not until to play down here in the likes of Tralee, under those elements and against a Kerry team wanting to give a good account of themselves, that you find out where you are in your preparation,” he said.
“All I can say is from what I am seeing every night in training is really good. There is a huge desire there to get it right but is also a big ask to make sure we are really competitive in the National Hurling League, retain our division 1A status, and be as right as we can be towards the end of the league heading into the championship.”
He added: "We would be behind in relation to our start time but our workload we have gotten into our players is almost on par with where we were this time last year. Weather permitting to the end of January, we will only be two or three training sessions behind where we were this time last year.
“The thing is getting players into form, being ready for our first National League game with Galway is going to be huge for us.
“So, am I happy with there we are at? I believe we are in a good place and have quite a number of players really nailing down their position heading to Saturday with one or two guys that deserve a chance as well.”
In the circumstances last year, Tipperary had no choice but to go strong from the off, with ten players who started in the win over Galway in Salthill twelve months ago, starting in the All-Ireland Final against Cork.
With the pressure off a little coming into this campaign, it affords the management space to experiment but Cahill revealed they will be taking the same mindset for this years league, putting out strong teams, particularly at home where they were unbeaten last year.
“It’s exciting for us to go with a structured team, but also be able to introduce one or two newbies as well and see how they’ll react to competitive National League hurling,” he added.
“The league is hugely competitive and comes on us very quickly. There are some really exciting fixtures in it, especially at home, so we have to make sure we have a good strong spine every day we play.
“Hopefully, injury permitting, everyone comes through the Fitzgibbon Cup and we get through our work in training that we’ll be able to do that.”