5 is the magic number
GAA: Munster Senior Hurling Championship Preview
By Shane Brophy
TIPPERARY v CORK
FBD Semple Stadium
Sunday, 19th April
Throw-in @ 4.00pm
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)
Donal Og Cusack’s comment recently that nobody rises and falls as quickly as Tipperary certainly caused a stir within the county.
Not that Tipperary needed any further motivation ahead of the start of their defence of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship this Sunday against age old rivals Cork.
However, there is an element of truth in what he said. Firstly, it’s the main thing many like to throw at Tipperary that they have failed to successfully defend an All-Ireland title since the golden era 1964 & 65 with six championships won since then but not being retained, the closest in 2011 when they got back to the final before losing to a hungry Kilkenny side intent on wrestling the title back after Tipp derailed their history five-in-a-row ambitions.
It’s one of those over-asked questions every time a Tipp player or management team mentor gets, and it is pretty pointless as it is entirely mute until you get to the latter stages of the championship. Yes, Tipperary will be doing all they can to retain the Liam MacCarthy Cup, but to do so, they must firstly negotiate the bearpit that is the Munster Championship, and compile the minimum five points needed (possibly four with either a head to head success in tie with another team or strong score difference if three teams finish on the same points) to progress to the All-Ireland Series.
In terms of the consistency reference from the former Cork All-Ireland winning goalkeeper, it can also relate to Tipperary’s experience in the Munster Championship since the round-robin format was introduced in 2018 (2020 & 2021 excluded as they were straight knockout) is such that they haven’t finished in the top 3 in consecutive seasons. That’s the first target. Target 2 is to get to a first Munster Final since 2021 and challenge to end a ten year drought since they were last provincial champions.
To do that, Tipperary have to negotiate a difficult schedule with two back-to-back games to bookend the round-robin, with a three week gap in the middle as their bye in the split weekend of round 3.
A good start is half the battle but a poor start isn’t fatal. In 2024, Clare won the All-Ireland title despite losing their first game while in the same year Cork reached the All-Ireland Final despite losing their first two matches. It’s all about amassing the points and being in the top 3 come May 24th.
So, where are Tipp?
If there was something Liam Cahill and his management might tap into to prime their players in advance of the opening game, it could be the perceived lack of respect for the defending All-Ireland champions.
The majority of the talk has been about other teams. Since the All-Ireland Final, there has been a lot of focus on how and why Cork collapsed in the second half. Then there is newly crowned league champions Limerick and whether they can get back to the level that won them four in a row from 2020 to 2023.
There’s no doubting they are the greatest rivalry in the game at the minute but neither of them won the ultimate prize last year.
It was interesting to hear Liam Cahill say that the mood among the panel since they returned to training is such that it doesn’t feel like they are All-Ireland champions, not because they are the least talked about defending champions in living memory, but because atmosphere is similar to last year, when they were chasing glory.
That is hugely encouraging because to successfully defend any title, hunger is a key component. Last years key driver among was redemption for letting themselves and the county down with their performances in 2024. That’s a powerful motivator they cannot tap into anymore so they have to find something else, and that is to get better as a team.
It would be fair to say that Tipperary’s All-Ireland success last year came ahead of schedule. The panel as a whole is still in development, 16 of the 39 players are only going into just their second championship campaign. Yes, the league might not have unearthed the gems it did last year in Robert Doyle, Sam O’Farrell, Darragh McCarthy and Oisin O’Donoghue, but that doesn’t happen every year.
Liam Cahill also hinted that it will be same core of players that will be to the fore again this year, possibly apart from Stefan Tobin who has a maverick element about him that he could play the Oisin O’Donoghue role off the bench this year.
Cathal O’Reilly might have benefitted from more game time in the league than he would have expected due to injuries in the full-back line but it would be a tough ask in his first year to make an impact, but there will be no fear of him if he is thrust into the fray.
What Tipperary do have is a lovely balance of youth and experience. The return to form of John McGrath last year, which culminated in him being selected as Hurler of the Year, was a huge bonus. He is coming into this campaign confident that he belongs at this level again, while his ageless older brother Noel is ideally suited to the impact role off the bench to close out a game.
Some of the uncertainty around Tipperary coming into this championship campaign is down to their league campaign being nothing to write home about. They won three, drew one, and lost two of their games, without going full strength at any stage which wasn’t a poor outcome, although the losses to Cork and particularly Limerick were tough to take at the time but maybe no harm in terms of grounding them for the 2026 challenge that lies ahead.
Based on what we have seen through the league, it would come as no surprise if the team that starts on Sunday against Cork and plays the majority of the games is close to the one that played in the All-Ireland Final.
This Sunday will be four weeks since we last saw Tipp puck a ball in anger against Kilkenny in the league, plenty of time to prime themselves and for players to come into form and Liam Cahill isn’t afraid to give a player his chance in those circumstances, as he did with Peter McGarry in the All-Ireland quarter final.
Rhys Shelly might be on the panel for four years but this will be the first one he will start the campaign as the undisputed number one, having come into the team mid campaign in 2023 and 2025.
The back six should be Robert Doyle, Ronan Maher, Michael Breen, Craig Morgan, Bryan O’Mara and Eoghan Connolly.
Two areas of interest that will be closely watched early on Sunday will be, firstly whether Tipp stay with their man-marking approach which was successful since it was adopted in the Clare game last year with Doyle on Alan Connolly, Maher on Brian Hayes.
Whether Tipp go with a sweeper again will also be closely watched as Cork’s attacking shape has been tweaked under new manager Ben O’Connor. They didn’t play three in the full forward line in the league and as such their goal-scoring rate fell compared to last year, with William Buckley in place of the retired Patrick Horgan, given a role as a floating half-forward.
Conor Stakelum and Willie Connors would be the likely midfield, although Alan Tynan could come into strong consideration to give Tipp extra ballast in the middle third, with Sam O’Farrell likely to drop back from half forward to help out as well.
The other five forwards pick themselves in Morris, Ormond, McCarthy, John McGrath and Forde. A concern might be that it is too predictable but Stefan Tobin has shown enough between senior and under 20 that he can be a match-winner as Oisin O’Donoghue proved last year, the Cashel man, still under 20 and skipper, having to juggle both in the coming weeks which is a tough ask.
Despite this Sunday being a home game for Tipp, as much of the pressure is on Cork, they are the favourites for the game, plus they have to prove themselves once again and get some kind of redemption for last years All-Ireland Final collapse. With Limerick to follow for them on Sunday week, a loss against Tipp puts them under immense pressure. Going to Waterford for Tipp isn’t a gimme either.
If you offered both Liam Cahill and Ben O’Connor a point each to start with, they’d gladly take it to get up and running but both men are winners and that’s what they will be going after.
We haven’t seen the best of Tipperary since July 20th 2025, next Sunday would be as good a time as any to remind everyone of why they are the defending All-Ireland champions.