Liam Sheedy: Seven steps to heaven for an All-Ireland chasing manager

At the dawn of a new campaign so many counties believe they have what it takes. But any eventual winner needs to get all of these right

GOING FOR GOAL: Neil Montgomery of Waterford scores his side's third goal during the 2021 All-Ireland quarter-final win over Tipperary at Pairc Ui Chaoimh Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

1: Win the tackle count 

When the dust had settled after the 2019 final, the press duties were done and it was just ourselves back in the dressing room, togged in and sitting down, we did the debrief same as usual. Win by 10 or lose by 12, we always went through the numbers that the laptops spit out. And one of the biggest cheers that day came when I read out the tackle count and we’d come out the right side.