Tipp to use Munster games to prepare for All-Ireland Series

By Thomas Conway

TIPPERARY v CORK

Cahir

Sunday 30th April

Throw-in @ 2.00pm

Pre-championship previews are usually difficult pieces to write. For starters, nobody knows what to expect, what to anticipate. Teams are generally clouded in a veil of secrecy, impossible to decipher or decode.

But this year, in the world of ladies’ football, things are slightly different. A newly reformed league structure has meant that most teams have already played as many as seven games. There has been plenty of time for experimentation, but also ample opportunity to sus teams out, to assess and analyse.

Take Tipperary for example. In what has to be regarded as a hugely creditable league campaign, they finished third in Division 2, winning five games, losing two, scoring 10-73 (103) and conceding 6-63 (81). Ultimately, they were unlucky to lose out on a league final berth, having finished on the same points tally as Laois - the Midlands side qualified by virtue of their victory over Tipp earlier in the campaign, and would subsequently go on to lose the league final to Armagh, who themselves were the shining lights of Division 2 this year.

That disappointment aside, Tipp’s league journey this year was impressive. They seemed to find a groove, establish a rhythm, and crucially, discover a way of winning games. This wasn’t always the way with Tipp. Over the past several years, the Premier County have developed a habit of producing moments of fleeting, mid-game brilliance, only to subsequently go on and lose - sometimes in agonising circumstances. But there is a newfound flair to Tipp this year, a boldness, an audacity. They seem to be trying new things, playing football in new ways, and it seems to be working.

Manager Peter Creedon was content with Tipp’s league performances, but the Cork native feels that there is still more in his players. Putting together a sixty-minute performance is a priority, and Creedon intends to use this Munster Championship to hone and refine Tipp’s game-plan.

Cork, Kerry, and Waterford will all pose serious challenges to the Premier in the round-robin competition which will confirm seeding for the All-Ireland group stages, but the Tipp boss believes his side have it in them to challenge and indeed even overcome those three sides, if Tipp can raise their performance to a certain level.

“Our league form was decent enough,” Creedon reflected.

“We lost out on a final place due to the head-to-head result against Laois, but we had plenty of good moments. I suppose our challenge, our ongoing challenge, is to get sixty minutes consistently out of our players.

“But we’re looking forward to the Munster Championship because really, they’re free games, as such, and of course they’re massive preparation for the All-Ireland series. But we know what Cork and Kerry and Waterford are like, so it will be a big step up.”

What should Tipp expect from Cork? Simple answer: a serious challenge. The Rebelettes finished fourth in Division 1, winning four games, losing two and drawing one. They racked up a total of 19-75 (132) and leaked 9-67 (94). Granted, some of those games were deceptively lob-sided, but there were also some statement victories, including a win over eventual league champions Kerry.

As per usual, Cork will present Tipp with serious challenges, on a multitude of different levels. They play the usual brand of fast-paced, high-octane, counter-attacking football, and have various sharpshooters which they can call upon. Dynamism is their strength, but if Tipp want to arrest Cork’s flow forward, something must be done about Hannah Looney. The 25-year-old chemical engineer is Cork’s attacking engine in midfield. If allowed to thrive, she will inflict serious damage, hence, Tipp simply must find a way of stopping her.

From a broader perspective, Creedon believes that this Munster Championship will be as developmental as it will be competitive. The provincial competition offers teams a chance fine-tune their game-plan ahead of the All-Ireland series, something Tipp will strive to achieve over the coming weeks. They’ll set out to win every game, but the overarching goal is to prepare for the championship - both physically and mentally.

“Look, we’ll be going out to win all our games, no doubt about it, but the ultimate aim is to prepare ourselves for the All-Ireland championship - that’s our ultimate focus,” Creedon added.

“And there are aspects of our game that we need to work on. We need to increase our physicality, to be able to match teams like Cork and Kerry, because we know how physical they tend to be. We might be slightly younger than some of the other teams, and that’s probably a factor, but our physicality needs to be better, so that’s something that we’ll be working on.”

Nobody knows for certain what lies ahead of Tipp this year. Could 2023 amount to a breakthrough season for the Premier? Quite possibly, but if Tipp are to hit the heights, they know they’re capable of, then it is paramount that they begin their championship campaign on a positive footing. Cork will provide a stern challenge, but a Tipp victory is not beyond the realm of possibility.