From day one this season, Bevans saw something 'different' about Tipperary

Tipperary coach Mikey Bevans said his team "came up with their own style of a plus one" during the All-Ireland final against Cork. 

20 July 2025; Tipperary's Craig Morgan, left, Jake Morris, coach Mikey Bevans and Darragh McCarthy celebrate after their side's victory in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Cork and Tipperary at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Tipperary coach Mikey Bevans believes the effort which players made to become "more connected" this season was a key factor in their All-Ireland winning campaign. 

"People were asking about what was different this year," Bevans said on The Sunday Game.

"I think the effort the players made to get more connected to each other, to help each other out; we got that sense the very day we went back training, that there was something different about them. They made a huge effort to bond with each other a lot better."

That connection was exemplified by the support which Darragh McCarthy received after he was sent off against Cork in the Munster SHC and against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final. 

"Even after the first sending off against Cork, I'd say that the 40 men on the panel texted me to after," McCarthy said after the game, "meeting up with Jake Morris, he texted me the following morning, 'Here, we'll go for a coffee', just to get back around the lads again. They're all just so good.

"What they've done for me there the last day again, they looked after me there. Oisín (O'Donoghue), one of my good friends, looked after me there as well with that goal. I have no words for him."

Bevans said it wasn't just McCarthy who received that type of support.

"Mikey Corcoran got a bad injury during the week and everybody had his back," he said, "just so many examples of it that they just came together off the pitch. When you're doing that off the pitch then it just transfers to the game you're playing."

Bryan O'Mara playing as a sweeper was another key to Tipp's victory. Bevans thought his side played their own version of that plus one tune. 

"We were speaking about that during the week," said Bevans, "it's really just about numbers, whether you have an extra player at the back or whether you have a player running forward it doesn't really matter. It's just the way you play the game after that so we'd like to think we just put our own stamp on it, especially in the second half the players just kind of let it flow and came up with their own style of a plus one if you like.

"They really just showed what good hurlers they are first of all, how connected they are to each other. They were supporting each other all the time which is a sign of a really good hurling team."