Jake Morris: 'The manner of some of the defeats last year wasn't acceptable'

UP FOR GRABS: Jake Morris of Tipperary poses for a portrait with the Liam MacCarthy cup. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

When Liam Cahill spoke last month about he and the Tipperary players being “embarrassed” at the county’s All-Ireland minor final win over Kilkenny, it was eye-opening.

As a 13-man Tipperary pulled off a famous extra-time win, what should have been a joyous day for anyone affiliated with the blue and gold was a bittersweet one for the members of the county’s flagship group.

For Cahill, Jake Morris and others, it exacerbated their sense of disappointment after failing to get out of the Munster SHC the previous month.

“I was down in Nowlan Park myself that day and there's no point in saying it, we were embarrassed walking around,” recalls Morris.

“Players are in the trenches. You have to go to work, you can't hide away. We were in the trenches after last year. We had to deal with it face on and take our constructive criticism and move on and look in the mirror.

“There was a lot of soul-searching done over the winter. A lot of hard looks in the mirror and seeing what can be done more. To be fair, lads have done it and so have the management team. They have come with us every way in this journey.

“It hasn't been pointed just at the players, they've taken on the flack as well and together as a unit, we've worked hard and we've got ourselves into this situation now where we're still alive in the championship and that's ultimately what we aim for.”

In those tigerish Tipperary teenagers, Morris took inspiration. Another All-Ireland final loss after the U20s fell to Offaly in Nowlan Park earlier that June would have been rough but the afterglow of the minors’s achievement was lengthy.

It was something of a turning point too, Morris concurs.

“It was in terms of looking at a team that fought on their backs together, a united team, a good battling Tipperary team, that never-say-die attitude. That's what was taken away that day.

“We never mind losing games and any of the boys there will tell you, you never mind losing a game as long as you've shown up and you've performed and you've fought on your back and you can come away together on the bus afterwards and you can look at each other.

“The manner of some of the (senior) defeats last year wasn't acceptable. That's where there was a bit of lessons taken from looking at 16 and 17-year-olds performing last year in Nowlan Park.”

Morris isn’t sure there was a similar seminal moment for the seniors this year even though they emerged from the province.

“I suppose getting to the league final was nice. Drawing against Limerick probably did plant the seed with a lot of Tipp supporters that, ‘Ok these lads, they mean business, they're competitive again’ but I don't think there was exactly one moment.”

Jake Morris of Tipperary is tackled by Cian Galvin and David McInerney of Clare during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile.

What’s certain is the Tipperary supporters are back behind their team in strong numbers having been away for a while.

“It's massive,” says the Nenagh Éire Óg man. “You're down the home straight of a match down in Ennis and in Semple Stadium the last day against Waterford and you hear the chanting going, ‘Tipp, Tipp, Tipp’ and you know that they're going to roar you out over the line.

“All Tipperary supporters are very fair, they just want to see a team that are battling hard and giving it their all and that's what we're doing this year and that's why they're getting behind us now, because it's a team that they can enjoy going to watch.”

But Morris doesn’t lose sight of the fact that it’s about the wins. A fourth straight SHC victory in Limerick this Saturday and what would be a first in four SHC meetings against Galway will earn Tipperary a first appearance in Croke Park since their 2019 All-Ireland final success.

“If you're not winning games, the morale is down. We got a couple of pats on the backs for our second half performance against Cork, but a pat on the back is no good to us at that level.

"It's a points business, so it's all about results and from here on in it's about results and performance and that's what we're going to be judged off.”