Michael Ryan says it’s always down to desire
In October of last year, it was decided that Ryan will take over as manager from Eamon O’Shea from the beginning of the 2016 campaign, but the Upperchurch native insists that it makes no difference to how this season is approached.
“It’s as we were, business as usual,” he says.
“It’s an unusual step, I suppose a pioneering step in GAA circles. It was done for purposes of certainty and continuity, it ties in with what I wanted to achieve but that’s 2016. I worked with Eamon during Liam Sheedy’s term, then we were out for two years and he brought me back in with him.
“I’ve an excellent working relationship with Eamon, and being honest, that was the reason I came back. I wasn’t looking to come back in at that time but when he came and asked me, the answer was always going to be yes, such was the positive relationship.
“Next year won’t be a distraction, in any way, shape or form.”
Ryan’s two years away from the scene when Declan Ryan took over as manager allowed him to get involved at committee level with his club Upperchurch-Drombane, but beyond that he kept his powder dry.
“It’s a big commitment and there are so many other things that get left undone when you are involved, be it career-wise or family-wise, more importantly.
“Those couple of years were valuable from that perspective but then, we are who we are, we jump straight back in. “You come back a bit fresher and you’re a year or two older and wiser.” Tipp come into the 2015 season wiser after losing the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny. Coming so close after taking the Cats to a replay doesn’t necessarily make it easier or harder to regroup.
“It’s the same regardless, everybody has to start again,” Ryan says.
“You’ll have gained a bit of confidence but the fitness won’t hold, you need to get your body ready for competition again. In terms of your mind, I think it comes down to desire – do you really want this thing?
“You ask yourself some very hard questions in terms of commitment, what it means to you and what you’re going to do differently. I take my energy from watching these young fellas and what it means to them.”
Despite last year’s near-heroics, O’Shea is still looking for a first win in the Munster championship, with defeats to Limerick in 2013 and ’14. By contrast, Declan Ryan never lost a provincial game but his two-year term isn’t viewed as much of a success.
Nevertheless, his namesake wouldn’t prefer to take the scenic route.
“You’re in the results business, and results are funny,” he says.
“What might be deemed success today mightn’t have looked like success in the past. It all depends on what context you’re viewing things in.
“On July 12, there’s a Munster championship on offer for Waterford and either ourselves or Limerick. We want that as much as anyone else.
“It always meant a lot to me as a player because, when I was growing up, Tipp weren’t winning anything, they weren’t even in Munster finals, let alone to dream about All-Irelands.
“I grew up listening to folklore about my dad cycling to Munster finals in Limerick. They mean a lot where I’m from and I think they mean a lot to Tipperary always.”
This season is the first where Tipp haven’t had Eoin Kelly since 1999. Coming a year after Brendan Cummins’ retirement, it means that the county are without two players who were leaders for more than a decade, but Ryan believes that there are plenty of suitable replacements.
“It creates a vacuum but, with that, it creates an opportunity, it depends on what colour glasses you’re looking at it with,” he says.
“Brendan Maher came in a few years ago and has really grown and then you’ve someone like Pádraic Maher, who’s just a tremendous player. He’s a phenomenal trainer, it’s not an accident that he’s as strong or as fit as he is.
“If you were talking to a group of young fellas about role models, you’d pick out Pádraic and say, ‘Watch this guy, look at how he addresses the ball and what he tries to do’.
“There’s no secret. It’s the same as in business or anything else, they’re trying to improve all the time.”
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