'Massive bravery' shown by Tipperary hurlers is praised by manager Liam Cahill

“What a gutsy performance. Four young championship debutants today, playing a team as seasoned as Limerick, loaded with a bench of numerous All-Stars”.

That was the reaction of Tipperary manager Liam Cahill after his team drew with Limerick in the opening game of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship.

“We rode the punches really well, were hit for a couple of sucker moments in the game, and showed real character and resistance to come back into the game, so I’m really proud of these fellas.

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“They’re representing the jersey really well and have shown massive bravery since last October.

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“This time last year, when we left the same dressing room , things were fairly poor, we were on the ground, and bravery is all about making tough decisions. And there were tough decisions made with the players around their preparation, and ourselves as a coaching and management team.

“I said it at the start of the league, it’s the real time to be brave in Tipperary, and we got it from the county board right down through. And it’s starting, thank God, to filter through onto the field.

“Having said that, it’s only the first round of the Munster championship,there’s nobody getting carried away.

“We can’t.

“From day one, when I was fortunate enough to be given the responsibility of taking on the senior hurling team, our flagship team in Tipperary, there was always going to have to be change and big decisions made. The first year or two were really difficult, a lot of these younger players weren’t ready 12 months ago or two years ago.

“Today is brilliant for our confidence and morale and all that, but let’s not get carried away here. This group of players are still quite some time away from being the finished article.

“They’re trying really hard and we’re really fortunate with experienced players like Noel McGrath, Seamus Kennedy, Jason Forde and John McGrath, they’re superb leaders. In the dressing room, the way these boys bring those younger players with them, they’re just Tipperary people to their fingertips, and the right players are in the dressing room at the moment, that’s for sure, and thankfully we can try and build on today.

“I think the biggest change from the league final was our bravery on the ball. I mentioned it after the match. We just went into ourselves at times. You have to be brave to play in the big cauldrons with the big crowds, there’s only small gaps to work that ball out, but you have to trust your hurling and we should be trusting our hurling more, because that’s what we pride ourselves on, being really good hurlers.

“Today, I thought at times we tried it and it didn’t come off, but we never gave up, and we’ll have to continue to be brave on the ball over the next couple of weeks if we’re to be one of the three teams to come out of Munster.

“There were times when some of the guys that are in the early stages of their proper strength and conditioning did labour.

“I felt that at one stage it might be the one thing that might catch us on the day, Limerick are savage units obviously. But our boys played really well, and credit to our strength and conditioning as well through Angelo Walsh, his first full year in the job and he’s done an exceptional job with these fellas. But the test will lie now with to see if we can bring consistency, and that’s what we’ll be looking for now over the next couple of weeks.

“Some of these fellas when they get up in the morning, these fellas have to go to work, as we all know, and some of them will be so sore after today they mightn’t be able to even tie their shoelaces.

“It’s such a commitment from these fellas to play in front of packed arenas, with big crowds generating massive revenue, and yet they have so much of their lives on hold. It’s incredible, they’re a credit to themselves, their families and their clubs.

“We have a lot of work to do, and today is a stepping stone. The one narrative we don’t want coming out of today is that Tipperary are back, because that’s ridiculous. There’s so much youth in that dressing room, and so much experience that’s going to have to be replaced at a later stage, they’re not going to stay around forever, so there’s still a lot of work to be done in that regard”.