Michael Ryan has his Tipperary troops ready for battle against Galway on Sunday.
The Tipperary manager was speaking on The GAA Hour Hurling Show on Thursday, and he’s looking forward to the Croke Park showpiece, which will be the third time the sides have met at the semi final stage in the last three years.
The Premier County edged the Tribesmen last year, but many will say they were fortunate. A goal borne out of utter wizardry from John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer was the fine margin that separated the sides.
Galway handed Tipperary a harsh lesson in this year’s league final, beating the blue and gold out the gate by sixteen points.
Things will be different on Sunday, and the Upperchurch Drombane club man believes that having his players at his beckon and call, ahead of the county’s clubs, is key to this.
“There is a correlation there where guys need to play with their clubs and to keep that balance right, but they need to keep a foot in both camps.
“My own opinion is that they should do their training with us. (Tipperary)
Tipp suffered a disappointing opening day Championship defeat to Cork in Munster this year, and since then – despite one week off – his players have been training with the county every week.
This has meant that clubs in Tipperary have seen less and less of their players, and this SportsJOE writer, who plays club hurling for the Lorrha Dorrha club in North Tipperary, hasn’t played one Championship game since this Munster opening round in May.
This is a country wide trend nowadays, however, that county players don’t play for their clubs until the county is knocked out of the championship, therefore delaying club championships.
Ryan feels that the difference for a player in training with their club and their county is “that touch, that really sharp touch.”
“Week one was complete rest. We felt we always had to see them at least once a week because in my experience down through the years, I think, anything beyond a week (of players resting or training with their clubs) and it just doesn’t work for us. That touch, that really sharp touch, if you let that standard slip, it’s really hard to build that back up again.
“I’m aware the Dublin footballers might be released for two weeks and I’m not drawing huge comparisons between hurling and football, but in my opinion, your touch in hurling is just vital. It just makes your job so much easier, or so much harder…We constantly push that skill,” said Ryan.
Ryan is aware of the high expectations of the Tipperary support, who can be quick to criticise this side, but he completely understands supporters points of view.
“When I step out of this role, will I be a hard to please supporter, and will I be hard to please? Possibly. Our biggest rivals, Kilkenny, they probably share the biggest border we have, on the east side of Tipperary… The slagging is desperate. We’ve this really promising team that have made a breakthrough, they want us to stay at this level. When they see that slipping away, they’re disappointed. We love our game (In Tipperary).
You can listen to the interview right here from 19’10” on The GAA Hour Hurling Show.
