Returning faces please Cahill

By Stephen Barry

Liam Cahill felt that returning Tipperary panellists showed the benefit of previous exposure to the senior squad in making a positive pre-season impression against Limerick on Saturday night.

As the All-Ireland champions began their 2026 preparations, the manager namechecked inside forwards Jack Leamy and Paddy Creedon as players who’ve evolved since first being invited into the Premier panel.

Cahill also praised 2019 All-Star goalkeeper Brian Hogan for his fitness upon returning to the set-up after three years abroad.

“Brian was back in the country, and I was delighted to hear that,” Cahill began.

“You can see by his physical condition, he's come back in brilliant shape for a guy that has been away from this level of hurling for the last two years or more. It was a really good first appearance for him. He's going to add some really big competition to that particular area with us.”

He added: “Some guys that came on the journey with us last year for a little while, the likes of Jack Leamy and Paddy Creedon, they'd have got a real understanding of what we were about. They went away, improved with their clubs, and now they're back in.

“Tonight, they've really shown that they've gone away and taken what they needed to take to bring their game to the next level. So, let's see can they continue to do that now, and a few more with them into the league. Please God, we’ll have a really good competitive panel for the start of the Munster Championship.”

Among them will be several of Tipp’s All-Ireland Under 20 champions, although Cahill cautioned that newcomers will need to be allowed time to develop.

“It is a big transition for them because they are really good players at U20 level,” he continued.

“But when you come into an inter-county senior set-up and the intensity of the training goes up physically as well as the speed of the hurling, it takes a little while to adjust. So all these guys are going to take a little bit of time.”

For Cahill, the ‘Champions Under Lights’ challenge in front of a healthy crowd at Fethard Town Park will help to “close the book” on their triumphant 2025 campaign.

“We've given ourselves ample time after the All-Ireland to enjoy it,” he said.

“There was a fairly full-on club campaign. We've given guys a couple of weeks’ break after their club campaigns. Now we're back in officially since the second last week in November.

“There's a huge appetite within the group to get back down to work. We've really gone after looking forward to Christmas as regards closing the book on 2025.

“The demands have been huge, and the players have been exemplary in all their commitments, but from now on, we'll be making ourselves unavailable really as we head into 2026 because the focus has to be around getting ready for a National Hurling League at the end of January. That's going to take priority.

“Unfortunately, as much as we'd love to stay in 2025 and keep enjoying it, things move on, and we have to get ready for the challenges that are going to come.”