Shy, but not retiring, Tommy’s not Dunne yet in glory hunt

AMONG the hurling purists, Thomas Dunne would be regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the modern game, an artist with an array of skills and a warm personality which mirrors his sportsmanship.

Long before he captained Tipperary to their last Guinness All-Ireland title four years ago against Galway, their opponents in Sunday's quarter-final his reputation was established. That will endure, but while admitting he hadn't given thought to retirement, this could mark his farewell appearance in Croke Park.

"I had not really been thinking about it, but it could be,'' he said.

Better known as Tommy, he played his first senior game for Tipperary in the winter of 1992, as a substitute in a League game against Offaly. A year earlier he had two outings in Croke Park with the minors, when they defeated Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final but lost to Kilkenny.

He was back there with the seniors for another All-Ireland semi-final meeting with the Westerners, but played no part in the game, and had to wait until 1997 (for a semi-final game with Wexford, which they won) before having his first run out in the stadium.

Toomevara's success in the club championship last winter meant he was training and hurling up to the spring. And following the defeat by Athenry in the All-Ireland semi-final he might well have slipped into semi-retirement only for manager Ken Hogan to contact him and persuade him he still had a part to play.

"It was as simple as being phoned by Ken. I had not really planned on going back to be honest,'' he explains.

"About a month after the Athenry game, he called me and said he'd like me to come back on the panel, that he felt I could make a contribution. I said I'd give it a try and more or less take it a week at a time. I hadn't expected to play as much as I have already this season, but that was the way it worked out.

"I'm delighted I went back. I know the Munster final display was disappointing, but I was prepared for the ups and downs when I went back. I was just glad I could make some bit a contribution during the year, and hopefully that I will have a little bit more to make at some stage.''

Dunne agrees that the win over Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds in their first-round replay marked the high point of the season.

"It was a big game for the team and it was nice for me to play reasonably well on that occasion. The team was going through a bit of a tough patch towards the end of the National League.

"Expectations in the county were a bit low and supporters were a bit pessimistic. So, it was great to turn the corner against Limerick and win a close championship match.''

To follow that with an impressive win over Clare in the semi-final confirmed progress, but he accepts that on the day they were helped by mistakes from the opposition.

"I didn't buy into the situation where Clare had been written off. They missed a lot of opportunities against us. I didn't feel they were just going to die away.

"I'm not surprised they made such a good recovery. As everybody knows, they have huge characters in their team. They were never going to go away. Now, they have come back strongly and find themselves in a very good position going into an All-Ireland semi-final game with Cork.''

To a certain extent, he feels Galway are a bit of an unknown quantity, pointing out that he had only seen bits of pieces of them in televised games. But, he saw a lot of their clash with Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds and while being impressed, he felt they were "probably lucky" to win in many ways.

"If Limerick had taken their frees they might have won it,'' he added.

"Galway are always tough opposition. We have played them quite a lot over the last few years, in League and championship. There has been very little between us in previous meetings and I don't expect there will be a whole lot in it on Sunday.''

From Tipperary's perspective, he is encouraged by the way the panel has been strengthened over the last month or two.

The availability of Ger O'Grady, Micheal Webster and John Carroll, along with the return of Eddie Enright and Seamus Butler is certainly a boost, he points out. There's no shortage of youth and plenty of experience. The challenge will be to put a good performance together.

"It's good to have options,'' he adds.

"I suppose the one thing since the Munster final is that a lot of the guys who were not in the reckoning around the time of the championship have all come back into the mix now.

"It's effectively a new championship in ways ... and it's great to be involved.''