Standing on the threshold of a new year it seems an opportune time to cast a cold eye on our whereabouts in the hurling universe.
Normally we’re bidding good riddance to the departing year and its nagging failures, but this time it’s different. That warm glow continues to radiate from 2016.
However, tide and time, as they say, waits for no man, so we can’t dwell in the past. The clock moves on and already heads are turned towards 2017 and what it may hold.
For the superstitious among us years ending in the digit seven haven’t been the most fruitful for Tipperary hurling. Only two of our twenty-seven All Irelands came in such years: 1887 and 1937. A major focus this time will be the quest to put titles back to back for the first time since 1965. We’ll start out as holders and favourites but that will count for nothing once the championship ‘sliotar’ is tossed in.
The background choreography is set up nicely for Tipperary to have a decent go at 2017. There’s continuity in management and players and celebrations have been restrained. Yet it’s no harm reminding everyone of a few realities. Everything fell neatly into place in 2017 but we could so easily have been tripped up at different points. The semi-final win over Galway is an obvious example. ‘Call it lucky’, said Michael Ryan in the ‘Yearbook’ interview – and he’s right. We always find Galway a struggle.
Our fourteen-man effort in the Munster semi-final against Limerick wasn’t comfortable either. The end margin was two points. Limerick have a habit of turning us over. Even the All Ireland final for all its spectacular appeal could easily have tilted the other way. When you look at the video again you see the frantic tackling and baulking that our defence had to put in to deny Kilkenny goals in the final quarter. A small dip there in our efforts and who knows what would have happened. Kilkenny’s score of 2-20 would win many finals.
All of which reminds us that even when the team is playing spectacularly well you still need a lot of dominoes falling your way. We are still a long way off the dominance achieved by Kilkenny in recent times and it’s as well to inject that element of realism as we launch into a new season.
Who will be the main threat in 2017? Of course it will be Kilkenny. If they get players like Michael Fennelly, Ger Aylward and James Maher back from injury and others like Liam Blanchfield improve further then they’ll be the ones to beat once more.
For the moment a panel of forty-one players is putting in the winter slog as we gear up for the league start on February 11. We may be champions but wise management is always searching for reinforcements and new options.
Darren Gleeson will be thirty-six in March so by some distance he’s the elder statesman of the team. Yet there’s no great consensus on who is likely to fill his boots when he steps aside. Brian Hogan and Darragh Mooney are the top contenders at the moment; others see Moyne’s Paul Maher as one with potential. It remains an open issue.
We lost two back-up defenders over the winter with the retirements of Paddy Stapleton and Conor O’Brien so finding supplementary material for that zone has to be a target too. If one of our corner backs, for example, is missing who fills his place? Tossy Hamill and Donagh Maher were the main back-up options during 2016 but neither is proven at this level.
Our half back and midfield lines look very solid and settled at the moment but again injury, illness or other misfortune might deprive you of one or more. Finding alternatives might be more problematic than people think.
In attack we’ll have to face the league without ‘Bonner’ Maher, which provides an obvious opening for Steven O’Brien to stake a claim. Incidentally that stint on the Golan Heights won’t have helped Bonner’s hurling, no more than it helped Eoin Larkin a few years back. I’m sure the management will be hoping that O’Brien makes an impact this season because you always need something new coming on stream.
So while our first fifteen from 2016 looks strong and assured you always need others pushing through as things evolve. Our minor class of 2012 provided a rich vein of talent for the present seniors; last year’s minors will have to wait a few more years before, hopefully, doing likewise.
Anyway we’ll have to wait and watch developments. A jet-lagged panel is just back from Miami as I write and there’s no game planned for next weekend. The only definite fixture at the moment is a game against Antrim on the weekend of January 28/29. That match in Belfast commemorates the late Fr. Alex Reid formerly of Nenagh. He won a minor All Ireland with Tipperary in 1949 and played a significant role in the Northern peace process.
Meanwhile, while the county is playing catch-up in its bid to be ready for the February league start, the clubs too are busy with their plans for 2017. Finding managers and coaches for the new season can be a difficult task and it’s always interesting to see the main movers and shakers in this particular market.
It’s been a strange year for our champion club, Sarsfields. Completing their hat-trick of county wins was sweet but their loss to Ballyea in the Munster campaign was a bitter pill to swallow. They remain the great pretenders at this level, which must be a major irritant in Thurles.
Tommy Maher and Paddy McCormack have been in charge in recent years and I’ve heard no mention of any change in that set-up. Whatever about management personnel they certainly need a change in approach to get over their present hump. Back in the noughties the club lost four county finals on the trot and were desperate to find a winning formula. Eventually they took the bold step of recruiting Limerick’s Ger Cunningham who helped them to finally make the breakthrough in 2005. Something dramatic is needed again. At present their team is too unbalanced to progress outside the county boundary so critical decisions are needed.
Elsewhere in the Mid Drom/Inch and Loughmore are seen as Sarsfields’ main challengers for both divisional and county honours. Drom had their breakthrough county win in 2011 but since then they’ve hit choppier waters. 2016 was another disappointing year for them and one suspects there’s frustration within the club at its failure to get back to the top. This year they’ve opted for Padraig Butler as manager with Paul Collins and Kilkenny man, Jimmy Maher, doing the coaching.
Meanwhile Loughmore look set to reappoint Declan Laffan and Pat McGrath to take charge for 2017. 2013 was their last county win but this is one club you can never dismiss; arguably they’re the only truly dual-club in the county.
Elsewhere in the Mid Upperchurch have appointed John Ryan (Kildangan) as manager with Seamus Gleeson as coach. Holding their position in Roinn 1 will be a major target for the ‘Church in 2017. By contrast Holycross/Ballycahill will be aiming to win promotion from Roinn 2. Michael Ferncombe will be in charge there.
In the case of J.K. Bracken’s 2017 promises to be a challenging season. They’ve lost former county player, Shane Bourke, who teaches in North Monastery in Cork and has transferred to Douglas. An All Ireland minor medalist from 2006 Shane spent five years on the county senior panel between 2011 and 2015; he was unlucky missing out on the 2010 and 2016 wins. He’ll be a major loss to Bracken’s who have also lost Eamon Corcoran, now retired and operating as club chairman. As yet they have no team management appointed.
Up North the eye-catching appointment is in Kilruane where ex-county player, Shane McGrath, joins Liam O’Shea. It’s a club struggling to deliver on obvious potential. North champs, Kildangan, retain Dan Hackett as manager but coach, Sean Treacy, (Portumna) has been replaced by Loughrea’s Gavin Keary. In Borrisoleigh Portumna’s Johnny Kelly will do the coaching in 2017 alongside John McGrath and Philip Maher. Portroe retain Anthony Freeman as manager but have managed to recruit ex-Clare player, Tommy Guilfoyle, as coach. Guilfoyle made a strong impression with Knockavilla Kickhams in recent years.
One of the most travelled coaches in the county is Donach O’Donnell. He was with Clonoulty in 2016 but returns to Nenagh Eire Og for the coming season. In place of O’Donnell Clonoulty have recruited the very highly rated Sean Prendergast (Lismore) who was previously with Drom/Inch and Doon. Philip Quirke manages Clonoulty.
Also in the West Kickhams stay local this time with Paudie Slattery and Brian Horgan teaming up. Consolidating senior status will be a main target. Annacarty have yet to appoint a management.
Down South champions, Mullinahone, retain Darragh Duggan as coach while Killenaule too hold their man with Paddy Moore staying on for another season. 2016 was a difficult year for Carrick Swans; they look to Derek Hogan and Niall O’Donnell to improve matters in 2017. James O’Shea (Carrickshock) is said to be taking charge in Ballingarry.
There are others too, especially in that over-populated North division, but not enough space to include them here. Given our new structure it will be an interesting 2017 championship season.
