Power flicks switch to electrify Tipp football
On the Dublin side, Dessie Farrell is a celebrated figure in football with a national profile from his playing days and his role as one of the leaders of the GPA.
On the Tipperary side Power is a more low-key presence, at the helm of a minor team in an unfashionable big-ball county and bucking the managerial trend as a 28-year-old presiding over a bunch of teenagers.
But the novelty of the tale belies a steely determination and a record embellished all the time. From the Kilsheelan-Kilcash club in the south of the county, Power has overseen a remarkable emergence. Tipperary showed flashes of promise in his first two years in charge, travelling to Cork and dumping the home side out of the Munster championship in the 2009 semi-final and last season running a Rebel team, that would later contest an All-Ireland final, to three points.
This year they have elevated their progress and performances to a level that sees them an hour away from the county’s first Tom Markham Cup since 1934. Power is the figurehead but showers the praise elsewhere.
“I’ve been lucky to work with a group of players who never give up,” he said.
“Being a bit younger than most minor managers probably helps me, I’ve a great rapport with them. I guess I talk the same language. I look for complete honesty in every team I’m with and this team give it to me. But at the same time I’m still learning as a manager, particularly with how to deal with different situations.
“I realise that and that’s why I’ve put very good people in place around me. The three selectors, Tadhg Duggan from Arravale Rovers, Fergal McDonnell from JK Brackens and Pat Murphy, a Wicklow native from Kilruane McDonaghs, have all been terrific. We’ve a top-class physical coach in Alan O’Connor from Cahir. And of course you’ve John Evans as well. His experience is second to none and he’s a great guy to get advice from.”
There is a refreshing modesty about Power given the scale of his achievements. He grew up in a football climate with his father, Michael, the current secretary of the county football board and a former treasurer of the Munster Council. Power played minor football for Tipperary himself in 2001 and has immersed himself in coaching at underage level in the past five years. The Kilsheelan-Kilcash minors, the Tipp U16 and U17 sides and the Waterford IT Trench Cup outfits have all passed under his guidance.
When football board secretary Noel Morris asked him to take charge of the Tipperary minors at the start of 2009, he jumped at it.
“It’s affected my ability to keep playing for the club all right as it’s hugely time consuming. It’s a full-time job. But it’s a great position to be in. When you enjoy it as much as I do, you don’t notice the amount of work it takes.”
The level of effort has been rewarded by the results. Tipperary have claimed sizeable scalps on route to tomorrow’s decider, dismissing the Munster big three of Limerick, Kerry and Cork before putting Meath and Roscommon to the sword. Any sense that their appetites would be sated by the manner of their phenomenal comeback against Kerry and their ruthless dismantling of Cork did not linger for long.
“We’ve wanted to make the most of this chance,” said Power. “Even after the semi-final win over Roscommon, we looked at ways to work and improve. So we’ve played practice games against two Kerry senior clubs, Dingle and Rathmore, in recent weeks down in Mallow. Playing internal matches can be repetitive so we went to take the lads out of their comfort zone. They were in a new environment, playing against physical sides where they had to move the ball fast. We learnt a lot.”
Tipperary have not just had to overcome hurdles on the pitch this season. A bulk of their squad had exam duties to contend with and six players wielded camáns with the county minor hurlers as well.
“It’s not easy with all their activities. But young fellas want to be dual players in Tipperary now which is great. A couple of years ago, they’d pick hurling every day of the week. But we’ve had success at underage level and they want to play football at minor level.
“We’ve never put dual players under pressure. The desire to play has to come from them, but it’s great they’re comfortable playing both.”
The revival in Tipperary football has been staggering. They started by tending properly to grassroots and can now envisage acquiring silverware.
“Tipperary have always prepared their football teams very well,” argued Power.
“The key thing is the structures are much better now.
“We’re complete underdogs tomorrow, we know how good an outfit Dublin are. But we believe in ourselves.
“It’s 11 years since a Munster team won an All-Ireland minor football title and we want to end that sequence.”
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