Kilkenny mauling not decisive factor in Dunne quitting Tipp

No matter what happened, Tommy Dunne was always going to take a break from coaching Tipperary after 2012.

The fall-out from a 4-24 to 1-15 loss to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland was such that manager Declan Ryan and Dunne no longer had the public’s support to continue once their two-year term had been completed, but the Toomevara man needed time out in any case.

“It was tough,” said Dunne, who is not currently training any team full-time. “Coaching at this level, when you’re trying to hold down a full-time job as well, is fairly serious business — as ye are all well used to people [saying] by now. However, last year was going to finish up, this year was going to have to be time out for me anyway. I just couldn’t stay doing it, given the time that the job required. So that was the main reason.”

As to what happened in the game, Dunne can’t help but grimace at the memory. He doesn’t want to touch the Lar Corbett-Tommy Walsh fiasco because everyone’s fingerprints have been on that crime scene already, but he admits it was a factor in the backlash and that the Tipperary capitulation rocked him to his core.

“I don’t think I want to get into it for a while yet, to be honest with you. It was just massively disappointing given the level of effort and commitment on everybody’s part,” Dunne said. “And then to go out and not perform anywhere like you know you can… when you’re involved with management and coaching, it just leaves you with a lot of questions and shakes all your fundamental beliefs about what you’re trying to do.

“So you can imagine then all the soul searching that goes on after that.”

Was the level of criticism proportionate to what had happened?

“Well, it doesn’t matter whether it’s fair or unfair,” he replied. “To me, it didn’t matter. If you were to put yourself in the position of being a Tipperary supporter in the crowd that day, I wouldn’t have been happy with what I’d seen either. So that’s the nature of sport at this level, criticism all the time — and you have to take it in on chin. Sometimes it’s abhorrent and sometimes it’s unfair but it’s out of your control so you can’t do anything about it. All you can do is analyse what you have done yourself and try to take solace out of it that you’ve done everything to the best of your ability and try to live with it like that.”

Dunne has seen Eamon O’Shea’s Tipp side improve throughout a positive league campaign and commented on the players’ “easy relationship” with the Kilruane McDonagh man.

The 2001 Hurler of the Year felt there were good and bad points from the league final defeat to the country’s top side Kilkenny, but can also see Limerick being a bolter this year, whom Tipp play on Sunday.

“I think Limerick are real dark horses this year, to be honest with you. Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds, it’s a serious game for Tipp to open up with.”