Forde and Tipp are refreshed ahead of new campaign

By Shane Brophy

While most of the country are on the wind-down for the Christmas break, for inter-county hurlers and footballers, the start of their 2024 season is mere days way.

For the Tipperary senior hurlers, it will come on Sunday 7th January when they take on Waterford in Fraher Field, Dungarvan, in the opening round of the 2024 Munster Hurling League which was launched at the headquarters of sponsors Co-op Superstores in Limerick last Monday.

Present were players from all six Munster counties, including Tipperary’s Jason Forde but he won’t feature in the competition, and is unlikely to be available until midway through the National League as he continues to recuperate from surgery on the pinkie finger on his left hand which he had after Silvermines club campaign came to an end and requires sixteen weeks recuperation. It was an operation he put off in 2023 but you wouldn’t have known his catching hand was compromised considering the level of his performances when fit.

It is roughly six months since Tipperary’s last competitive game, the disappointing performance in the All-Ireland quarter final defeat to Galway, and Forde admits a frustration over what exactly went wrong in that game, as well as the loss to Waterford which cost Tipp a place in the Munster Final.

“You would have been going over it in your head for the last couple of months,” Forde admitted.

“It is hard to put the finger on one thing that you could point to as the reason why, but it was the accumulation of three very tough games before going very flat against Waterford. We found it hard to pick it up again after that.

“If you played to your full potential and you were beaten you can say fair enough, but it was the fact that there is much more in us and we wouldn’t be happy with the performance in either of the games against Waterford and Galway, that is the thing that sticks with you as you need to produce the best performances on the biggest days.”

He added: “You have a lot of lads in their first championship season as well so having played three hard weeks going into the final game, you can look at all those things and make excuses, we just didn’t get to the level we needed to, so we need to address that going into the New Year”.

SPLIT SEASON

Tipperary manager Liam Cahill has had a lot of time to stew on his first campaign as senior boss with the new split season and while there is a cry in some quarters for the inter-county season to be extended, the Silvermines clubman feels the long off-season creates a hunger among the players entering a new campaign.

“It is definitely a better scenario than it used to be,” Forde said of the split season.

“We were finished with the club this year on the first week in September and I haven’t picked up a hurley since so it has given me a chance to switch off completely from it and you are mad for it then when you come back.

“It gives you that bit of clarity as well that when you are with Tipp you are with them for however long and when that is over you are back with the club. You are not drifting in and out of the two, so it is good.”

“Before, playing two games in April and then having to go back in with Tipp and maybe having picked up an injury, and then go back to the club in August for one game and that could be it.

“I don’t think you are ever going to get the ideal situation but the way it is at the minute is probably the best it can be. Four of five weeks build-up to a game and then three weeks to another game wasn’t ideal either in the past. If you have a lot of injuries, then that is ideal but the way it is now is more like professional sports where it is week on week or every second week.”

2024

Tipperary aren’t really being spoken about much in terms of likely challengers to Limerick in 2024, and that can be a good thing as they can work away without much focus on them.

The players focus, however, will be all on championship, starting in the toughest way possible away to All-Ireland champions Limerick on Sunday, 29th April, however, that will be Tipp’s first game as they have a bye in the opening round whereas Limerick will come in off the back of a likely intense clash with Clare the previous week.

And Forde sees that game as a huge opportunity considering Limerick won’t be able to focus on Tipp until after they play Clare.

“That’s the way we need to be looking at it (a huge opportunity).” Forde said.

“We went toe to toe with them last year in Thurles and one or two little things might have turned the result further in our direction as well.

“Every game in Munster is massive though. You can’t pinpoint any game and say that that is the one. Every game is huge and even the way the results went last year when we went down and beat Clare the first day, Clare then went on and beat Limerick, we drew with Limerick, and Cork were only a point away from Limerick by the end.

“So, every game is going to be huge and we’re going to have to bring our best to every single game, but the way it is working out this year is breaking up the fixtures nicely too.”

Tipperary have a tough schedule in Munster in 2024, taking on Waterford in Walsh Park just six days after they play Limerick, before finishing off at home to Clare and Cork on back-to-back weekends.

Tipperary’s flat performances in the losses to Waterford and Galway this year came in weeks where they had just seven days to recover and prepare but Jason is confident they will have learned from those issues.

“The recovery aspect of it is massive,” he added.

“Literally straight after a game, everything turns towards getting yourself right for the following week and I think it can be even more mentally tough trying to come down after a big game like that and park it.

“But that’s what you need to do going into the next game, and that’s probably the hardest part. Everyone will do their recovery right in terms of their nutrition and sleep and anything else to get themselves right, but it’s probably the toughest part to come back down mentally.

“But if we want to get back to Croke Park we’ll have to get used to it and get good at that aspect of it.”

LEADER

Following the retirements of Seamus Callanan and Niall O’Meara in the off-season, Jason Forde is now one of the elder statesmen of the Tipperary panel as he enters his twelfth season, turning the age of thirty this Friday, 22nd December.

He doesn’t feel any extra sense of responsibility but is well aware this is a new era for Tipperary following the retirements of some greats in recent years.

“Over the last couple of years, the panel has been changing,” he said.

“When I’ve been talking to a couple of the older lads like Dan (McCormack) and Ronan (Maher), you can see how it changes seeing the younger faces around the camp.

“They bring a lot of positivity and energy around the place too and they’re mad to get going.

“I don’t know if there’d be more weight on my shoulders, there’s still enough of us there where there would be plenty of experience as well. Even lads who might have played in their first season this year still had experience built up; the likes of Bryan O’Mara who was playing regularly at Fitzgibbon level. So, I wouldn’t feel any more pressure than anyone else to be honest.”

For the moment, Forde is restricted to fitness sessions on the sidelines at Dr Morris Park, watching on as the players are put through their paces by coach Mikey Bevans as manager Liam Cahill surveys his options before making a final call on his panel in late January before the start of the National League, and Forde feels it is the right call as there is great competition in training to get on the panel.

“Lads are seeing it as an opportunity that, if they do well in challenge games and the training games, they will get a chance,” Forde said.

“I think Liam is right in what he’s doing to give lads opportunities and in fairness, they (management) went to an awful lot of club games during the year, so lads who were showing form are getting rewarded which is a good thing too.

“There won’t be any stone left unturned in terms of getting players together who are up to the level to play for Tipperary, so lads are chomping at the bit, so once this Munster League gets going it’ll be another chance for lads to put up their hand.

He added: “There is a good buzz with the newer lads. I think we need to show a bit of patience with them and the way it is gone these days, you do need two or three years to get up to the physicality of intercounty hurling in terms of getting the strength and conditioning on board. They’ll all add a new element to the group, and I think young players like that will just go for it and they won’t have any fear.”