Skipper Steven hopes to be back soon

This Sunday’s Munster Championship opener against Waterford has come a little too soon for Tipperary captain Steven O’Brien as he looks to overcome a hamstring injury.

By Shane Brophy

The Ballina clubman has endured a frustrating time with injury over the last two years, a combination of hamstring and shoulder problems curtailed much of his 2023 campaign, and this year has been restricted to just a game and a half in the league after sustaining a new hamstring injury win the win over Longford on February 4th last.

“Funnily enough last year, it was the left leg, but this year it is in the right,” he said of his current issue.

“It is in the t-junction area where there is a high reoccurrence factor there so it is about making sure that all the numbers stack up before I go back because it would be an awful shame after missing the last five game to come back a week or two too soon having to start from scratch again. I definitely have to err on the side of caution, particularly with this particular area.

“It was most frustrating for myself this year because I had targeted the league as I had finished much earlier with the club than in previous years. I did get a good solid back of pre-season done and felt good coming into the league but then picked up a niggle.”

It has been frustrating for the new Tipperary captain to watch on helplessly as a relatively young squad failed to win any of their final five league games in his absence, including draws against London and Waterford, games they would have been expected to win.

“It has been frustrating for the group,” O’Brien admitted.

“Everyone knows we can’t afford to be missing too many, especially with the number we are missing so you’d like to think if one or two of us were back fit we’d have helped the lads out a bit more as we have a very young panel, you have seven or eight lads on the current team playing in their first National League campaign. You always want to be blooding new players, but it is better to blood in two or three at a time rather than throwing in so many all at once.

“Still, the vibe is the vibe. It is never easy when you are not winning games, but lads are staying positive. You have to realise how young the group is and how much they have to learn so we definitely won’t be throwing the toys out of the pram just yet.

“It is about sticking to the process and believing what we are doing. I couldn’t ask for more effort from the players and management, everyone is putting their shoulder to the wheel so you just have to trust the process and the results will come when lads get more experience, more confidence, and a few more experienced lads come back into the group and that will drive the group on more.”

Process is something new manager Paul Kelly is a man of and while the early days have been a struggle, Steven O’Brien feels his plan will come good in time, but patience will be needed, by both players and supporters.

“He is very detail oriented. He leaves no stone unturned, no matter what he is doing which is good and is something we might have needed,” O’Brien revealed.

“He has a great view of football with great ideas. He wants Tipp to do as well as we can, and I believe in it. He is doing fine, and the results will come if we stay trusting the system.

“He and his management team are top class, and everyone around them are a great support so hopefully we can drive it on.”

He added: “What I see coming through from the younger players, they are very talented, which is brilliant, but they do have a lot to learn in terms of inter-county, and you have to be patient with that.

“You also have to look at where lads are coming from, we wouldn’t have the strongest club system in Tipperary, so some lads are coming in fairly raw and we have a bit of work to do with them but in terms of raw talent, it is there. The only way they are going to improve is by being in an inter-county set-up.”

Such has been the turnover in players that of the twenty that featured in the 2020 Munster Final win over Cork, O’Brien is one of only seven that remain, some such as Philip Austin, Brian Fox and Robbie Kiely that have retired, but the majority having opted out who still have a lot to offer.

Many are of Steven O’Brien’s vintage from the 2011 minor All-Ireland success and while the Tipperary captain admits it is frustrating, he understands their decision, but also hopes they might return at some stage in the future.

“It is hard not to be frustrated when you are losing top-quality players, especially when you feel they could be in their prime,” he continued.

“But then again, this is football, there is more to life. For those lads that have stepped away in recent years, they have been shouldering the Tipp football wheel for the last ten years or more. A lot of us would have come through from the quality minor and under 21’s teams, and came straight into senior around 2014-15, and it is a big commitment and is only going more and more from what I am seeing.

“There is a lot to ask of players these days so while I am frustrated and I’d love to have all those lads, they do have their reasons.

“But my motivating factor (in staying) is to try and help provide more good days for young Tipp footballers coming through.”