Tipp can bring the medals but less Croke Park knowhow

WINNERS: Tipperary players, from left, Noel McGrath, Ronan Maher and Seamus Kennedy after the Munster SHC win over Clare at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg in Ennis, Clare. Pic: John Sheridan/Sportsfile

In their Christmas quiz last December, the members of the Irish Examiner hurling podcast were asked which team had the longest unbeaten senior championship record in Croke Park.

The three wise men were flummoxed and when Tipperary was revealed as the answer there was an understandably salty response from host Anthony Daly. Tipperary haven’t lost in The Big House since 2017 but their winning run extends to just three games, one more than next best, 2024 All-Ireland champions Clare, and the last of Tipp’s victories came in ’19.

Of the four teams playing this weekend, Tipperary have by far the most All-Ireland senior medal winners and medals in their panel, eight and 15 respectively. After the retirement of Cillian Buckley, Conor Fogarty and Walter Walsh last year, Kilkenny have three champions (Eoin Murphy, Richie and TJ Reid) and between them 12 Celtic Crosses.

Tipperary might have more medals, but they have been waiting to get back to Croke Park more years than any other Liam MacCarthy Cup team. On the flipside, since losing to them in the 2019 All-Ireland final, Kilkenny have played there in the SHC 15 times.

“It’s an interesting one,” says Tipperary selector Declan Laffan of the factors in and out of his team’s favour. “Obviously, we're in Munster so Kilkenny are used to being in Croke Park, they're in it a couple of times every year.

“Obviously we have some elder statesmen and they're not actually that old with the exception maybe of one or two, Ronan and John McGrath are only 29 and 30, I know it feels like they're around a long time. They have lots of mileage up, but they're still in the peak of their powers to be fair to them. 

"Hopefully it'll be a help to us and some bit of an advantage when the time comes in some of them big games.” 

Fifteen of Tipperary’s All-Ireland quarter-final panel are set to get their first playing experience of Croke Park on Sunday. Having Noel McGrath in his 17th season to put the metaphorical arm around these rookies, as he did literally around Darragh McCarthy after his sending off against Cork in April, is huge, says McGrath’s Loughmore-Castleiney club-mate Laffan.

“Since a lot of the underage All-Irelands have gone out to Croke Park, it's taken away the opportunity for a lot of lads to get in there. Without a doubt, the likes of Noel [McGrath] and Ronan and those lads, they're great leaders in the dressing room and I'm sure whatever bit of advice they can give out to the group, it will be hugely beneficial.” 

There are extremities of age in the Kilkenny camp – Eoghan Lyng was two when TJ Reid made his Kilkenny senior debut in 2007– and the same goes for Tipperary: recent U20 All-Ireland winners McCarthy, Paddy McCormack, Oisín O’Donoghue, Sam O’Farrell were around five as Noel McGrath claimed his first of three All-Ireland medals in ’10.

Tipperary seem to be defying the claim made by John Kiely three years ago that the gulf between U20 and senior had become wide. “Obviously, Darragh is small in stature but he's a solid unit,” Laffan points out. “He's all there and the other three boys are fine. A lot of them guys still have a certain amount of their gym work done. They've been at it since they've been in development squads all the way up along.

“It's not like they were discovered overnight and it was, ‘Look, you have to go and pump iron six days a week.’ They've been doing it a certain amount. I think players are more tuned in to what's required and I suppose particularly this bunch of them, they've been winning all the way along.” 

Then there is Clonoulty-Rossmore’s Robert Doyle, the county’s U20 full-back two years ago who has had a breakthrough season after agreeing to come into the panel. “Robert is his own man and I think he's been a revelation in fairness to him,” enthuses Laffan. “I'm not going to say he didn’t need a bit of coaxing… I think he just wasn't sure of himself maybe more so and had other things that he wanted to do first.”