Kelly looking forward to new campaign

By Thomas Conway

Nobody quite knows what to expect from Tipperary this year. They are, in fact, somewhat of a mystery.

Having flattered to deceive in 2022, the Premier enter this season’s league campaign slightly under the radar. They are now under new management. Following five years at the helm, Bill Mullaney signed off on his tenure at the climax of last season, leaving one of his coaches, Toomevara man Denis Kelly, to take up the reins as the new senior team manager.

It was a logical appointment. Kelly has been in and around this Tipperary panel for several years as coach. He knows the players, knows their style, understands how they like to operate. But he wasn’t just a continuity candidate.

Always an animated figure on the side-line, the Toomevara man will bring his own flair to the role. He has already admitted that management and coaching are two very different ball games. The coach coaches. The manager, by contrast, has an infinitely wider remit. He or she selects, delegates, advises, counsels, and makes big decisions. Managing is not for the faint hearted, as Kelly has discovered over the past several months.

“I’m really enjoying it,” Kelly said.

“I suppose the role is a bit different from coaching - as a manager there’s a lot more involved, as I’ve found out over the past few months. But I am really enjoying it and I’ve got a great response from the girls, from the panel. The players are really putting their shoulder to the wheel and we’re really looking forward to the start of the league this weekend.”

For a time last season, it appeared as if Tipperary were on the cusp of a breakthrough. Their league form was impressive, and the prospect of breaking the mould and beating one of camogie’s dominant triad of Cork, Galway and Kilkenny seemed altogether achievable. Then, for whatever reason, and nobody really knows why, everything went horribly wrong. Clare edged past them in the Munster Championship, Waterford tore them to bits in Thurles, and suddenly any notion of success was dispelled as a folly. Sure, Tipp performed bravely in their final group game against Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn, but their championship ended in the group stage.

Kelly knows that Tipp have serious work to do if they are to even countenance challenging the likes of Cork, Kilkenny, or Galway, but the Toome man maintains that preparations thus far have been running rather smoothly. Tipp have a diverse management team with an array of incisive coaches and selectors. All are working well in conjunction with one another, and Kelly believes the players are thriving within the set-up.

“Michael (Ferncombe) and Kevin (Moran) are running the training sessions, and you have Oscar (O’Dwyer) and Diarmuid (Leahy) there with the S&C as well,” Kelly added.

“So, they’re really putting the whole package together, putting the girls through their paces and pushing them and testing them as much as they can. And we’re delighted with the way the girls are responding.

“Look, there's a long year ahead of us yet, but it’s so far so good. We’ve had a couple of good run-outs in terms of challenge matches, and they’ve went well for us.

“Now the league is going to be a different story of course, but we think we’re well prepared for it, and we’re looking forward to the challenge of Galway next weekend.”

Challenge is the right word. Have no doubt, Galway will be challenging. The Tribeswoman will be absolutely intent on righting the wrongs of 2022 and reclaiming All-Ireland silverware, and they will almost certainly want to set down a marker in their first game of the league.

Tipp will be up against it, and while Kelly acknowledges that winning is always a priority for any Tipp side, he also indicates that this year’s league campaign will be a learning process - a voyage of discovery.

“We’re hoping to get a settled team over the next few weeks, or at least a settled spine to the team, a settled backbone,” he added.

“But we need lots of options as well, outside of the central positions, and we also need lots of options in terms of players to come in off the bench. Because the way camogie has gone, it’s now a 23/24 player game. So, we want to find out what positions best suit players, and we want to put a plan in place ahead of the championship.