Eimear Ryan: Tipperary face an uphill battle to experience the winner effect

The winner effect explains how we end up with dynasties like the Kilkenny hurlers, Dublin footballers, or Cork ladies footballers — and conversely, how difficult it can be to break through

Tipperary’s Orla O’Dwyer goes for a point under pressure from Waterford’s Kate Lynch in the All-Ireland senior camogie championship quarter-final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture: Inho/Laszlo Geczo

In his 2012 book, The Winner Effect, psychologist Ian Robertson explores the neuroscience behind success and failure. The ‘winner effect’ is a term used in biology to describe how an animal that has won a fight against a weaker opponent is much more likely to win a subsequent fight, even against stronger opposition. Success breeds success, essentially — and of course, this applies to humans too. Winning changes the brain: makes you more focused, more confident, and more aggressive.

In sport, we know the winner effect by other names, like ‘belief’, ‘experience’, or ‘character’. It explains how we end up with dynasties like the Kilkenny hurlers, Dublin footballers, or Cork ladies footballers — and conversely, it also explains how difficult it can be to break through, especially when playing against a dominant team.