Dunne calls for intervention to drive Tipp GAA revival

Former All-Ireland winning captain and coach Tommy Dunne has called for an “intervention” to get Tipperary GAA back on the right track.

By Shane Brophy

Speaking candidly in an interview with Terry O’Neill on the Tipperary Supporters Club online members channel, the Toomevara clubman said there is a risk of the county falling further behind their rivals unless a group of key individuals come together to work alongside the county board to put structures in place for the teams to perform better on the field.

“As far as I am concerned, we need an intervention, we need support,” Dunne said.

“Is there an intervention that is possible, alongside the county board, that can support people that put their hand up to do these jobs because they are carrying a huge burden personally, professionally and in lots of ways to take responsibility for things..

“The county board have loads on their plate, as well, with all the operational stuff that goes on around Tipperary GAA. Is there something that can be done in parallel to them that takes responsibility for a direction a vision for the next five, seven, eight years to put structures and systems in place, maybe building on plans that are there already to get us back to being a high performing entity again.”

He added: “We can’t hide the fact that over the last couple of years we have been coming up short too many times so we should be looking at why that is the case and looking at areas where we can do better.

“If you look for help, you will get it in Tipperary, I have no doubt.

“For people to invest time, money and expertise, they have to see evidence of a structure, a proper strategic layout and vision for the next couple of years where it is not going to be just a little project off the back of one disappointing year, it needs to be bigger than that in the medium or long term where there is a focused approach where there is a commitment to getting Tipperary to a certain place.”

The 2001 All-Ireland winning captain has been heavily involved with coaching Tipperary teams since his retirement as a player, coaching the under 21 team to the 2010 All-Ireland title under Ken Hogan, while he managed the minors to Munster glory in 2018. And one of the areas he feels is in serious need of improvement is Tipperary’s training ground, Dr Morris Park.

“Dr Morris Park is not any longer an environment that is quality where we are preparing our inter-county teams to play,” Dunne said critically.

“The pitches are in really poor condition, and I know people are doing their best to maintain them and the conditions were hard last winter, but it is out-dated.

“A centre of excellence is where, when you drive in the gates of Dr. Morris Park you should be driving into a five-star facility where the pitches are top class, and where there is a gym, an analysis room, a medical set-up whereby our players are walking in and having pride, and we having pride in sending them there. We don’t have that, I’m not saying that is the only reason, and lots of counties don’t have it but we are Tipperary, and we should be striving to have it.

“If you drive past Kilcormac and look in the fence at the Offaly pitches you would stop the car and look in at the pitches they are that good, you’d want to take the hurley out of the boot and have a puckaround.”

In 2021, then Tipperary commercial advisor Liam O’Shea recommended the appointments of a full-time director of hurling and commercial director, and Dunne feels both need to be seriously looked at.

“That type of approach is worth looking at, and worth discussing,” he said.

“One man can’t change it but one, two or three people could lead it and bring in our high performers in business, in sport, in other areas that would have a sense of what it takes to run an organisation like Tipperary GAA, alongside the county board or reporting to the county board, with a view to making structures and systems whereby we can look forward to the future with confidence.

“There is a huge amount of good work already being done in Tipperary GAA, the coaching and development squads are prominent, I know I am involved with Toomevara under 17’s so I know their approach. They are not perfect I am sure but there is a concerted effort to find our most promising players and to develop them accordingly to give them high level training and games, and athletic development.

“Then there are our clubs and are we doing enough to support our clubs, and are our clubs being self-sufficient in the quality of coaches that they are producing because if we can get it right down at club level it will feed up along into the county teams.

“It is not all about the county, there is a gap emerging between club and county, but if we can strengthen our clubs structures, our club games, and our support for clubs and the volunteers that are already coaching in terms of their knowledge, experience, and expertise, it will then trickle up the line into Tipperary.”

Tipperary have won just two games in the last thirteen in the senior hurling championship, and while there are green shoots once again at underage with the minor and under 20 teams winning Munster titles and progressing to All-Ireland finals, Dunne feels the problems are after they graduate from those teams.

“Even with the best development in the world, for an under 20 player to land into a senior panel the following year and expect to compete with the thoroughbreds that are there, that is unlikely, if nearly impossible,” said the 2019 All-Ireland senior winning coach.

“The gap between senior inter-county hurling and under 20 inter-county is colossal, and it is the same with Fitzgibbon Cup hurling. A player that excels at under 20 and/or Fitzgibbon, there is no guarantee that player will get even get close to excelling at senior championship, some will and some won’t.

“Our job, as in Tipperary’s job, is to ensure that we identify talent, and we nurture that talent and develop it on an ongoing basis over a number of years, so we are giving our players the best possible chance.

“Hurling at senior inter-county level is serious and if there are any gaps in the process that becomes even more difficult. While we are doing very solid work at underage in Tipp with development squads, developing them up to under 20 is no longer enough. If you are letting them off at twenty then there is a gap there in terms of what happens next for these players in a high performance in terms of athletic development, strength & conditioning, injury rehab and pre-hab, so there is a gap there and that warrants a closer look.”

Tommy Dunne is fully supportive of senior manager Liam Cahill who he says will be hurting more than anyone over Tipperary’s struggles this year.

“We have had set-backs and have had serious set-backs in recent years that have hurt us deeply,” Dunne added.

“You can see from Liam Cahill’s body language it is hurting him more than most as he is the one standing on the sideline. I was on the sideline with Colm Bonnar in 2022 and it hurt us deeply as well, and still does. These people are putting their hear and soul into it, way above and beyond what people understand.