Stapleton: Tipp will kick on

They have answered the negative commentary of early summer but the questions they asked of themselves are still pending according to Tipperary’s Paddy Stapleton.

The corner-back believes the defeated finalists have matured during Eamon O’Shea’s reign, progress has been made, leaders moulded, but still their potential stands unfulfilled.

“There was probably a lot of negative talk about our character prior to this year and during the year. I’m not saying it’s the media, it’s in general chit-chat,” claimed Stapleton.

“The last time we were in All-Ireland finals a lot of those players were very young and they were our leaders back then even, the Brendan Mahers, the Paudie Mahers, the Noel McGraths. Now they have grown up a little but to be even more mature.

“Certainly they have all come on and we have all come on a little bit ourselves in terms of taking more leadership.”

Other boxes must still be ticked, he continued.

“I don’t think we have answered ourselves fully. You are not pleased just because you get to the final when you lose. That game was there for us, the last game was there for us.

“Kilkenny are the same, I’m not saying we could have dominated them but we had the chances to win it. I don’t think we’ve answered everything we want to answer. I think going forward that is very important that we do.

“It’s up to each individual to look inside themselves and see what they want. If they want to come back and give it another rattle and build on the experience of this year and the structures we’ve put in place, then we can kick on no problem.

“But it is up to ourselves over the next three months to get into the right frame of mind, get rid of this.

“We realise we have a good team, there’s other good teams out there so I have no problem that we will kick on again.

“Like everyone else it was a very topsy-turvy year. There’s a lot of people up and down in different ways but that added to our character and I feel I have definitely grown as a hurler and person over the last six months.”

Manager Eamon O’Shea has one year remaining in his tenure and Stapleton is adamant he is the man to lead the team into 2015.

“There’s not a man in the dressing room that wouldn’t want Eamon to stay on. He gets us and we get him. He has a fantastic personality, a great motivator, has a great vision of hurling and the way it should be played in the style of Tipperary. He’s in sync with ourselves and we would love if he could stay on. We need him and hopefully he needs us as well.”

The Borris-Ileigh defender pointed to Kilkenny’s half-back line as the platform from which the Cats ultimately secured victory.

“They got a very good start to the second half, built up a little bit of a lead and probably pulled back a little, leaving more space up front. They covered the area in our half-forward line quite well it seemed from where I was.

“They played a little bit better in the second-half than us. It probably came from the start-ups, puck-outs, things like that and their shape is good and it allowed them to get onto the breaks a lot more in their own back line.

“They weren’t left isolated too much which left them able to create space and come forward with the ball so it probably all comes from being well set up on our puck-outs and then able to get a platform to go forward.