PREVIEW: Tipperary camogie ready for day of reckoning in Croke Park this Sunday

Twelve months is a long time to lick your wounds after losing an All-Ireland Final in Croke Park and the time in between can lead to a lot of ruminating and disappointment, and whether or not you will get a chance at national glory again.

But Tipperary’s Junior Camogie team will have a shot at redemption as they get ready once again to head up the M7 to take on Laois this coming Sunday afternoon.

There has been a lot of change to the squad from last year’s defeated team who were bested by Clare with only five of last year’s panel still in situ, along with a new management team headed by former senior boss Bill Mullaney. Still, Bridget Bourke was a selector on the defeated 2023 team and she felt that the whole occasion might have gotten to the team on the day.

“We didn’t know what we were facing last year,” she admitted.

“It’s a big ordeal going to Croke Park. It’s a huge day up there and when we arrived the stadium was practically empty and it was kind of eerie walking around with nobody there.

“You’d usually be used to going up on All-Ireland Final day when the place is jammers and it is daunting.

“But I’m hoping they’re past that now and I think they’re all level-headed.
“We kind of have to forget it’s Croke Park. Once the whistle blows it’s just a match and whether it’s Croke Park or The Ragg, we have to perform.”

Tipperary have been in the Junior ranks for the past two years now and for a county that has always prided itself on being competitive with their second teams in the Intermediate grade, it is not ideal for developing the senior players of the future and Bourke admitted that this will be foremost in their minds, especially with another promising crop of minor players coming after the All-Ireland success earlier this year.

“It’s important for the development of the players to be competing at a higher level,” she highlighted.

“We performed really well in the Munster and League campaigns. We got to the League final and we won the Munster Intermediate.

“But I think going forward for all those younger ladies, they must be competing at a high level so it makes it easier to transition them into the senior ranks.

“We have some very good girls coming through now, especially from this year’s minor team and even this year’s senior team is dotted with last year’s minor team.

Laois will provide the opposition on Sunday on the biggest day in Camogie and they will be desperate to get the win themselves, having fallen through the Intermediate trapdoor last year. So far, they have been in formidable form and have made light work of their opponents in their path to the final and it represents a tough task for the Tipperary team.

“In my head, they’re Intermediate level. They’ve won all of their matches comfortably and they’ve some really good players that will be more than a match for us.

“So, nothing is taken for granted because they will be the toughest team that we’ve met this year.

“We have to get out and support the girls now. There’s no point in saying they're great; they’ll only be great if there’s a crowd behind them.

“They’re a great bunch of girls, they work really hard and hopefully they can do it,” she finished optimistically.