We don’t care if public thinks we flog players - Tipp selector Laffan

Tipperary selector Declan Laffan says they won't worry about public criticism of their training methods

Tue, 01 Jul, 2025 - 07:16

John Fogarty

Tipperary selector Declan Laffan says the belief Liam Cahill overtrains his teams is of no consequence to the group.

After the county’s failure to qualify from the Munster SHC last year, excessive sessions was cited as a reason only for Cahill to insist this season that they didn’t do enough.

“The public perception of Liam is that he flogs his teams and, look, let the public think what they like, we just have to worry about what we do,” said Laffan at Tipperary’s All-Ireland semi-final press event on Monday evening.

“We probably didn't get it right last year, we probably tapered it back a little bit too much and maybe suffered in the latter end of the game where teams just pulled away from us and we just hadn't it in the lungs to stay with them.

“So, look, it's a fine balance getting it right and it's even the same coming into big games like this, match-week, how you tailor training during the week that you don't end up flat? Do you do an hour, do you do 40 minutes?

“Everything has to be tailored properly and that's where your S&C guys have come in and laid down the law and make sure that things are done right and that we don't overcook lads.”

Laffan reported a largely clean bill of health for Tipperary ahead of Sunday’s clash with Kilkenny. “We're looking good at the minute, I don't think there's the usual bangs and bruises for this time of the season, but in general I think we have a healthy squad to pick from, so we'll just have to try and get it right now, I suppose.”

Loughmore-Castleiney man Laffan believes the two-week run-in from the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Galway is suitable. “We had the long break after the Munster championship which was, I'm not going to say it was difficult, but it took a bit of managing to get right. And then obviously we had Laois and in a way it was probably the ideal game to set us up for that Galway match.

“The two-week break after Galway, I would think it’s ideal, it's given us ample time to process that and get ready for the next one and go about our business and do whatever analysis we have to do. I think it's worked well for us and look, if we win we'll say we have it right and if we don't, somebody will find fault. There’s not much we can do about that though.”

Tipperary will have former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity in their ranks on Sunday as coaching support. “David is an excellent coach and has brought huge contributions this year to what we’ve been trying to do,” said Laffan.

“He will probably have a bit of inside knowledge. Whether it will benefit us or not, we won’t know until the game plays out. He’s all-in. You don’t give eight or nine months with a team unless you’re fully committed.”