Tipp veteran Cummins set for another shot at glory

IT was 3am on Monday when Brendan Cummins’ last reserves of adrenalin finally reached empty and he surrendered to sleep.

Contented though it must have been, the slumber couldn’t contain him for long and he wasn’t long in getting dressed and returning to the Burlington’s lobby where the embers of the previous night’s celebrations were still aglow.

“I was wrecked,” said Cummins.

“It must be age or something, I don’t know. I met a couple of the lads this morning and they were still in their clothes. They hadn’t gone to bed at all.

“But I was shattered. After games I just get headaches or I just get tired.”

He is 35 now and 15 years deep into an inter-county career with his county’s hurlers but it seems unlikely that the Ballybacon-Grange man will declare himself satisfied with two All-Ireland medals and call it quits.

He stopped short of confirming his participation next season yesterday and talked instead of sitting by the phone over the winter and awaiting Liam Sheedy’s call.

He will hardly have to wait long because, make no mistake, the hunger is still there.

“Absolutely. I love the game,” he insisted. “I love playing it and I love playing with these fellas because of the energy and enthusiasm they have, the carefree spirit. And then Liam’s leadership and Eamon O’Shea’s training with Mick Ryan in the background, takes it all to a new level. I’m going to miss not training Tuesday and Thursday nights!”

His reluctance to bow out is understandable given the fact that he spent nine years chasing a second championship before securing his goal two days ago with a Tipperary team that has the potential to add to that haul.

Eoin Kelly, another survivor from 2001, spoke yesterday of how henever fully grasped what he had achieved the first time around but life’s ups and downs have sown a deeper appreciation for their achievement second time around.

“Yes it does,” said Cummins. “I mean, every team that wins something, no matter what sport it is, there’s always something along the line. There’s always some journey you can draw from and ours has been extra special after being hammered below by Cork. We were put to the sword.

“We looked dead and buried in June this year. Then the qualifiers were kind to us and suddenly we won a game against Galway that we shouldn’t have won. Next thing you know, you’re in an All-Ireland final and you’ve won it. It’s been amazing.”

It certainly has. Under Sheedy, Tipperary won a first Munster title in seven years in 2008. They reclaimed that title a year later and every one of the Portroe man’s seasons in charge have delivered progress on the biggest stage of all.

Before Sheedy, Tipp had lost three successive All-Ireland quarter-finals in Dublin 3. Under Sheedy they have inched closer to the Holy Grail slowly but surely having lost a semi-final, lost a final and, now, won a final.

“We’re set up to play in Croke Park and that’s where all the big prizes are handed out,” said Cummins.

“We just had to get to the stage where we got into that stadium and I knew once we got in through the door of Croke Park we were going to fly.”

It seems almost indecent to talk about them emulating such heights so soon after their scaling of Everest but 2001 is not so long ago that people have forgotten the drift back towards mediocrity. One that tempered their last All-Ireland success. Cummins, for one, simply can’t envisage a repeat.

“The Cork game this year was enough for these bunch of players to never again have to worry about being lackadaisical or complacent or not performing on the day. There will be ups and downs, fellas won’t play well and will have to come off, but to have a full 15 not performing and five coming in not performing isn’t acceptable. To be fair, we managed our way through that crisis and it was a good lesson. A lot of the young fellas have experience. Noel McGrath is only 19 and he’s already lost an All-Ireland and won one. These fellas are nearly household names and they’re just out of diapers.”

* All-Ireland champions Tipperary will face county champions Thurles Sarsfields in the GOAL challenge at Templemore tomorrow evening at 6pm.