Davy Fitzgerald: Tipperary desire to tell on All-Ireland Sunday

Davy Fitzgerald fancies Tipperary’s desire may be what makes the difference for them in Sunday’s All-Ireland final.

The Clare manager expects the encounter will be just as tight as their games in 2014 but anticipates a different result. “It’s going to be tight again,” he predicted.

“My respect for Brian Cody and Kilkenny is unreal. You’d model yourself on the way they’ve done it. They are a phenomenal team. I think Tipp could scrape the All-Ireland, though.

“I feel that they’ve waited since 2010. Their hunger and their desire has to be massive. Kilkenny are probably the New Zealand of hurling, they’re phenomenal and you’d have to respect them. But there’s something telling me, and I can see it in Tipp, there’s a bit more hunger, a bit more desire. They have to step it up a bit from the semi-final but I think they will. It will be a tight game but Tipp just might have the edge.”

The loss of Michael Fennelly will hurt Kilkenny, Fitzgerald knows, but it’s not a fatal blow.

“Michael Fennelly is phenomenal. My God, what an athlete. He has everything. He’ll be a massive loss but Brian Cody is great at having such a competitive panel down there and someone else will hop in. They have Lester Ryan, who is a great young fella and could come in. You don’t know who he’s going to put out there. He’ll be turning this over in his head.

“What I love is even his enthusiasm. It’s funny, if I was that way on the sideline, the way he was the last day, I’d get nailed. I love it. He is that way all the time, and even after the success he’s after having. That desire, that comes across to your players. If you haven’t got that passion or that drive, then you’re wasting your time. So fair play.”

There is an expectation John O’Dwyer will start instead of Niall O’Meara after his goal-scoring cameo coming off the bench against Galway. But Fitzgerald can also see the argument for keeping him in reserve.

“I’ll put it to you this way, I believe that the game now is an 18-20 man game. I believe it’s great to have people come on and change a game. If you look at the goal Bubbles got the last day, very few players would have finished that goal.

“Would I start him? I don’t know. He’s right up there forward-wise, but when are most games won and lost? Probably the last 20 minutes and you need players that are going to make a difference.

“One of my players of the year has to be John McGrath. I’ve watched him in colleges, he’s been on the opposition team to me a good few times and he’s been absolutely phenomenal. Michael Ryan has got the mix right. It’s not all spectacular superstars, he has hard workers and grafters mixed in with serious hurlers so I think that’s a good balance.”

The appearance of Kilkenny and Tipperary in the final is regarded as a victory against the sweeper but Fitzgerald isn’t having any of that.

“I think that that’s the biggest load of rubbish I have ever heard. I’ll tell you this – the sweeper was not gone those two days against Kilkenny. If people think the sweeper was gone they’re fooling themselves. I listened to one particular analyst saying it’s great to see 15-on-15.

“I’ll ask you a few questions. How did Richie Hogan get four or five points? Because the man (Tadhg de Burca) he was marking was sitting back sweeping in front of the full-back line. I’ll also ask you did you see TJ Reid and Walter Walsh back inside the Kilkenny 45?

“People need to wake up. Sweeper isn’t negative, it depends on how you look at it. Look at how many attacking options you get out of it and I won’t say any more than that because it would be giving away what I really think.

“That is absolutely only fooling themselves, for people to think that it’s 15-on-15. Look at the game. Look at where people are positioned and look at how many forwards are actually in the forward half. No matter whether it is Kilkenny, Tipp, Galway, Waterford, Clare or anyone. That is factual. Maybe some of these analysts would need to have a good look at it again. Then again, some of them probably haven’t managed a whole pile either. Have a look at it. It’s there, fact.”