Darragh McCarthy on freetaking, his brother's debut, and Tipp in the long grass

LOW KEY: Tipperary hurler Darragh McCarthy at the launch of John West Féile – 2026, marking 11 years sponsorship by the company of the competition at Croke Park today. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Once more, it appears Tipperary will enter the Munster Championship under the radar, but Darragh McCarthy is paying no heed to the lack of commotion around the All-Ireland champions.

Only an unusual confluence of events will see Tipperary compete in a second successive Division 1A final. It’s more probable they will have a four-week break after Saturday’s clash with Kilkenny in Thurles on Saturday to their opening Munster SHC game against Cork at the same venue on April 19.

Tipperary haven’t been pulling up trees thus far but McCarthy likens their league campaign to last year’s version and doesn’t mind if focus is elsewhere.

“I suppose you can be demotivated by it, or you can be motivated by it – it's just whatever way you look at it, really,” says the Toomevara man of the absence of attention on Tipperary.

“We have high expectations in our own group and high standards in our own group, so we're just focused on ourselves, really. We try to block out as much outside noise as we can.

“We probably see ourselves in a similar enough position (to last year). It sounds like a cliché, but you're just taking it training by training, and you're not trying to look too far ahead, you're just trying to look to the next game. But yeah, we see ourselves in a good old position again. We're preparing nicely, so we're happy enough with that.” 

Twelve months ago, McCarthy showed he was physically ready for senior inter-county hurling when he held off Kilkenny’s Tommy Walsh to set up a goal for fellow tyro Oisín O’Donoghue.

Yet there is the odd nagging thought that he can be better in that department. “You always do question yourself. When you come into a match, you can't have little demons playing in your head whether you have enough done or not. You just have to get on with it.

“But after every match, you reflect, and you see whether you have enough done or not, and you just go after little bits then that might need a bit more.”

The presence of McCarthy’s old brother Kevin in the panel this year has given the 20-year-old another lift. The pair shared the pitch for the last eight or so minutes of Kevin’s league debut in Waterford last Sunday.

"It's massive,” he says of having his sibling as a county team-mate. “It's a lot of what I wanted as well, to kind of play alongside him, which is great.

“My motivation as a young lad growing up was obviously to play with Toome but it's a lovely little incentive to try and play with your brother too, especially at inter-county level. It's definitely a dream come true. It means a lot."

It was on Kevin’s free-taking routine that McCarthy modelled his own. The time McCarthy takes to strike the ball has attracted more than its fair share of attention already this season.

“If the ref is happy with it, you take your time. You don't look too much into it. Whatever time it takes, it takes. If I have to quicken it up, I'll quicken it up. But I'll take whatever time it takes if I'm allowed."

And if the boos ring out as they did in Cork last month, then so be it. “I suppose you're tuned into what you have to do at that given moment. You're not looking at any external noise or anything else like a player shouting or whatever. You're just tuned into what you practised and tuned into the ball on the ground."

It’s rare for nothing tangible to be on the line in a Tipperary-Kilkenny clash but McCarthy aims to take something out of the game in FBD Semple Stadium.

“As a player, you want to go out and win every game. It's all about trying to build momentum and build brick by brick on top of each other and keep laying the foundation for the forthcoming Munster championship.

“You look to win each game, especially against Kilkenny. It's definitely going to be a high-intensity game and there's a savage rivalry between Kilkenny and Tipp. We'll be looking forward to that."

* Darragh McCarthy was speaking at the launch of the John West Féile na Gael and Féile Peile na nÓg.