THIRD EYE - League numbers suggest Tipp have much to improve on
By Sean Flynn
Numbers from the National Hurling League do not add up for Tipperary, but players have the experience to come up with one or two big performances in the Munster Championship.
The 2022 National League campaign is all we can use to analyse Colm Bonnar’s reign as Tipperary manager and what direction he wants to go in terms of how this team will play.
Tipperary’s old frailties on the long puckout raised their head with the Premier County struggling to win breaking ball.
Bonnar’s men retained just 30% of their long puckouts and this resulted in the opposition scoring 2-9 (15) from the Premier restarts being turned over.
Changing of the guard on the puckout takes time
The league saw new players having to replace Niall O’Meara, John O’Dwyer, Patrick ‘Bonnar’ Maher and Dan McCormack as puckout targets. The Tipperary team now rely on Jason Forde, Michael Breen, Mark Kehoe, Conor Bowe, and Jake Morris to secure or break the long puckout. Time will be needed to come up with ways to secure possession off restarts but the key trend in the modern game is the speed of the restarts by the goalkeeper and the readiness of the players to move the ball fast. Teams like Limerick and Waterford are now speeding up the restarts to stop the opposition players getting set in the middle third of the pitch.
Workrate
Every team will look to base their team’s performance on workrate and whatever the result of any Tipperary team this group’s ability to generate turnovers can never be questioned. 65% of Tipperary’s scores in the league were generated from turnovers with 45 points coming from turnovers in the Tipperary half and the middle third of the pitch.
New Leaders Emerging
One positive for the league was the leadership on the pitch from players like Jason Forde, Michael Breen, Barry Heffernan, and Jake Morris. Nenagh’s Barry Heffernan assisted thirteen shots over the course of the league and his placement in the middle third is seeing him have a big influence on how Tipperary are playing. Jake Morris led the shooting charts from play with 1-10 (13) from sixteen shots.
Trusting the Players
Whatever game-plan this Tipperary team comes up with and whatever methods in which the opposition use to take down Colm Bonnar’s men there is huge experience in this playing squad.
This squad possesses players like Alan Flynn who possesses the ability to do a job in the full back line while he can also go toe to toe with midfielders like Cian Lynch, Jamie Barron and Darragh Fitzgibbon.
Dan McCormack can carry out the role of a deep lying midfielder, covering the opposition’s centre forward going deep while he can also play in the half forward line to win breaking ball and win frees.
Brian Hogan can give Tipperary an option to go long into the full forward line with puckouts and curb the influence of opposition’s deep lying midfielders on the break. Barry Hogan can keep opposition teams honest with his ability to place puckouts into half backs and midfielders’ hands.
John McGrath is still one of the best forwards in the game and the placement of the Loughmore/Castleiney clubman at centre forward could reignite his influence on games.
When he was placed out in that position in the 2019 All Ireland Final, he had nine shot involvements with four score assists and his ability to track back was evident from the opening play of the game.
Patience is Key
We may not get the result we want this Sunday against Waterford, but the Clare game will provide Tipperary with an opportunity to get a win which would mean that the final game against Cork in Thurles may decide Tipperary’s fate in the 2022 championship.