Captain is anxious for Tipperary football to become a force once more

One of the few survivors from the county’s famous Munster Senior Football Championship success five years ago, Tipperary’s Steven O’Brien has been beset with injury in recent seasons.

At the time of writing, the captain remains a doubt for Saturday’s Munster Championship quarter-final against Waterford at FBD Semple Stadium (6pm).

“I picked up an upper quad injury against Waterford in round three of the league,” says the towering Ballina midfielder.
“It’s just been a slower one to come back from compared to the hamstring injuries.

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“I suppose, earlier on, I was looking to try and get back for the Limerick game (in the national league), as promotion was still on the line and I maybe pushed it a little bit too hard leading into that and set myself back a week or two.

“But it’s progressing well now and I’m happy where I am at the minute so hopefully I’ll be back in time for championship.

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“Frustration is certainly the main word I would use,” he says when addressing the difficult time he has endured with injury.
“When I came back this year I had a completely different approach, where it was a case of just making sure that I could galvanise my hamstring stuff. And yet, after doing all that, you go and pick up a quad injury.

“In one sense I was glad it wasn’t a hamstring injury but then I was like, ‘here’s another one to add to the list’. But look, injuries are part and parcel of sport. We know what we’re getting ourselves into but I wouldn’t mind a good run of some games now”.

With fifteen debutants involved in the league this year, has it been difficult for the team to incorporate so many new players?

“Yeah, you do your best. The lads who have come in this year are top class and have applied themselves really, really well and want to be there, which is a huge thing.

“If I was to look at it negatively, it is another year of essentially another new panel. We had the same last year and the year before so that is probably my main frustration, because I would like to get to a stage where we can keep everyone now and maybe add to it next year.

“But, if you’re going year on year where you’re starting fresh, it is very hard to build momentum, build consistency in systems of play and that.

“In fairness to management they’re fairly aware of that and that’s what they are getting after. We were all talking about a two to three-year project and making sure that everyone who is on the panel now wants to put their hand up for next year too.

“We lost fourteen of last year’s panel and if we lose fourteen again next year, it is hard to build that consistency”.

Is it tough to keep going back every year when there is such a huge turnover of players in the panel?

“For me personally, no. It’s not tough to go back. I love playing for Tipperary, it’s what I always wanted to do from when I was a child.

“I think there’s going to be long enough where I won’t be able to do it, even though I’m half-crippled at the minute!

“As long as I feel fit and able to add value to the group and the management want me involved, I’ll be making myself available.

“It can be frustrating but my belief is that I’ll be sedentary for long enough without it and that’s when I might look back and regret it if I stopped playing too soon”.

Is it important that he and the older players who have had success try to sell the idea to the younger players that they too could have those days in a Tipperary jersey?

“I was very fortunate to play with the group of players I have since I was minor all the way up along, and play in some of the biggest successes in Tipperary football, so I would love to see some of the younger lads experience that.

“It is an unbelievable buzz and you want to be competitive. There’s been times where we’ve been playing division two and pushing for division one, winning Munster finals, winning minor and Under 20s.

“You would love to see lads get back there and get Tipp back to being that competitive force, and if everyone buys in and we can all stick with it, we can get there.

“Our panel this year is young so the lads would know a lot of the players playing on the Under 20 team. I think we’re all very cognisant of how good that team is and we’ve all been keeping up with their results and it would be a talking point at training. I’m excited for the likes of a Charlie King, Daithí Hogan, Joe Higgins and players like that coming through. As an elder statesman it gives you extra motivation to stick around because there is quality coming through”.

What’s it like having Philly Ryan and the new management team on board so far this year?

“Yeah, it’s been good. Philly is a passionate Tipperary football man number one, which is great.

“You can get a bounce off of that fact alone and he has brought in a good team around him with his selectors, coaches and backroom staff, so I can’t fault the set-up or anything like that. They’ve equipped themselves very well but it is a learning process for them as well, because it is their first year into inter-county senior management too”.

Does it make a difference with the game being played in Thurles rather than Clonmel?

“From my point of view, of course we all want to play in Semple Stadium. But you’d prefer to play in a game where there’s a bit of a buzz around.

“This year I was part of the team that played Longford below in Clonmel, and as the game reached the latter stages and we were there or thereabouts, we definitely got an extra few percent off the crowd.

“I was always open to the game being played elsewhere but if we can’t, we’d just encourage the Tipp supporters to get into Semple Stadium to try and give us that support because it is a big factor.

“Semple Stadium does have a lot of games played on it so our own time in there is limited in terms of getting in there to train and stuff like that.

“So at times it can be as much of an away factor for you as it is for the teams who come to play us.

“We’re not playing or training there in comparison to some of the other counties who play and train on their main pitches full time; Cusack Park, the Gaelic Grounds or whatever the case is, and maybe that is something we should be able to do in Semple Stadium.

“I’ll leave that up to the powers-that-be but if we are going to be playing home games there as our home ground, we should be able to get access to it.

“You wouldn’t expect to get in there during the league because there are hurling and football matches going on in there, along with underage matches and stuff”.

Speaking last week, he said “We are going in for a session next weekend which is good because it is a new panel, so we want to make sure that they’re as used to Thurles as some of the older players on the panel.

“You are going into Semple Stadium so there is that ‘awe’ factor there and we want to that to be gone. Look, we’re not going to get in there for every session but if you could even get in for half a session every week it does make a bit of a difference”.

This weekend they face Waterford, the team that knocked them out of last year’s championship.

“We’ve probably been nip and tuck with Waterford the last couple of years so it has become a little close quarters with us. We definitely have it in the back of our heads (that Waterford beat them last year) but we just want to get a performance and hopefully undo from last year and kick on again.

“Again, there’ll be nothing between us again I’d imagine so it’s a case of shoulder to the wheel and if we can get a few bodies back, it would go a long way”.

The captain has also paid tribute to Jimmy Feehan, his fellow survivor from the 2020 Munster Championship-winning team, who recently made his 100th appearance for the county senior footballers.

“If you think about it, a Tipp footballer to get 100 appearances takes a hell of a lot of consistency, and a hell of a lot of gametime to get under his belt.

“For those 100 appearances, I’d say he’s played the full 70 minutes for well over 80 percent of them, which is still huge when you think of it.

“Jimmy’s been a great servant. I’ve been lucky enough to play with him from minor all the way up along. He’s a top class person and you’d be delighted to see him being recognised for such an achievement”.