Experienced heads return for Tipp as new era gets under way

CAMOGIE: Centra National Senior League Preview

By Thomas Conway

ANTRIM v TIPPERARY

Cushendun

Saturday, 14th February

Throw-in @ 2.00pm

Referee: Ray Kelly (Kildare)

This may be James Heffernan’s first venture into senior inter-county management, but he is by no means stepping into the unknown.

Granted, nothing can truly prepare you for the white-hot heat and intensity of the inter-county game, whether you’re in the action or on the sideline, but the Clonoulty-Rossmore clubman is still well equipped.

After all, he guided his club to that famous 2024 county senior title - an historic triumph that followed years of final heartache at the hands of an almost indestructible Drom & Inch outfit. Prior to that Heffernan had coached and managed extensively within Clonoulty at underage.

Now he’s entering a different arena, walking into the world of Galway’s Cathal Murray and Cork’s Ger Manley, both modern-day giants of the management game. But Heffernan doesn’t come across as a man who might be easily intimidated. He acknowledges that this new gig is “a big undertaking,” but feels like “now is the right time for it.”

With his own playing days drawing to a close, Heffernan has clearly caught the management bug. He has spent the past several years surveying the club landscape at every level, and paying keen attention to the inter-county scene.

“I had a fair idea of the talent both within the existing panel, and among the underage teams. So, I have a good grasp of camogie within the county,” he says.

However, he acknowledges that it was that momentous county final success with Clonoulty/Rossmore that “probably led him to where he is now.” This is his first time managing outside his own club, and he knows he has big boots to fill. His predecessor in the role, Denis Kelly, elevated Tipp to new heights during his three-year tenure, guiding the Premier to a 2023 Munster title and 2024 National League honours. Kelly brought Tipp to the edge of the vanguard, taking them to three successive All-Ireland semi-finals and firmly establishing the county among the top-four.

But despite their best efforts, Tipp just could not break that semi-final barrier. Many would say they have the players, the tacticians and the systems, so is there a psychological barrier that needs to be broken? Heffernan doesn’t think so.

“It feels like a totally new kind of set-up from our point of view anyway, as a management,” Heffernan added.

“It’s hard to say that there’s a psychological barrier - I wouldn’t say there is to be honest. I don’t think we have any issue when it comes to winning big games, but there’s no doubt that Galway especially and Cork over the past couple years have been that bit ahead. But it’s up to us to bridge that gap.”

Fresh, youthful complexion

Tipperary’s 2026 panel has a fresh, youthful complexion to it. A host of former minors have been added to the ranks, most notably Thurles Sarsfields virtuoso Caoimhe Stakelum. Anyone who follows camogie and has witnessed Stakelum in action will know that she is a consummate forward - intelligent with and without the ball, cool under pressure, and unerringly accurate from placed-balls. She remains frighteningly young, but she is a real prospect and there is no doubting that.

Tipp’s fortunes this year will partly depend on how well the new crop of youngsters - many of whom are graduates of the All-Ireland winning minor team of 2024 - assimilate into the panel and adapt to the increased physical demands of the senior game. They will almost certainly be nurtured by the senior figures within the squad, the likes of Grace O’Brien, Caoimhe Maher and Karen Kennedy - all three of whom remain critical pillars of this Tipperary team.

The return of some older, more experienced characters like Borris-Ileigh’s Nicole Walsh, Eimear McGrath from Drom & Inch and Clodagh Quirke of Heffernan’s native Clonoulty, both from serious injury, and Shannon Rovers’ Áine Slattery is also a welcome boost, though the loss of former joint-captain Julieanne Bourke - who has decided to step away - is significant.

Clear-cut objectives

Heffernan is refreshingly frank and doesn’t try to undersell his new squad in any way. Their objectives are relatively clear-cut. The “big goal” is to get back to an All-Ireland semi-final, but they want “to go one step further as well.”

In terms of the upcoming league, Heffernan and his management team - which includes Tony Shelly, Seamus Hickey and All-Ireland winner Noelle Kennedy - intend to “flex the panel” as much as possible and test out some of the new faces and emerging talents within what is a relatively well-balanced squad.

They will get a first chance to do so up north next Saturday against Antrim. Their second game, a trip to Noreside to take on Kilkenny -a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland quarter in Croke Park, which Tipp won after extra-time - will be their first real test.

How do Tipp intend to play? Modern-day camogie is too dynamic and fast-moving to stick to one fixed modus operandi, but Heffernan says Tipp do intend to target their own strengths.

“As a management we wouldn’t have one set game-plan, but we’ll probably look to adapt to our strengths, and we have really good forwards. We need to get the most out of them, get the ball to them as early as possible, and like every team you’re trying to work hard and bring that bit of aggression,” Heffernan said.

Heffernan and Tipp will, like every manager and every team, take things game-by-game, but you can bet that a part of his mind will be quietly working away in the background analysing how to defeat Galway and Cork. He watched that All-Ireland final between the two teams last year. It was an enchanting contest and he thought the standard was otherworldly.

You can never look too far ahead, but if Tipp do make it back to a semi-final, it’s likely they will encounter one of those two. To beat them they won’t just have to outplay them, they’ll have to outsmart them as well. It’s a challenge that Heffernan and his squad are well-placed to embrace. But they have to get there first.