'Catching' Cork - Mikey Breen says Tipp just did their business 

The Tipperary defender accepts Cork were the spoken about team in last year's championship.

Kellogg's GAA Cúl Camps ambassadors, Tipperary Hurler Mikey Breen, Armagh Footballer Aimee Mackin and pupils from school Holy Trinity Senior National School in Donaghmede, pictured at the launch of the 2026 Kellogg's GAA Cúl Camps. This year marks 15 years of Kellogg's sponsorship, celebrated with the launch of the 'Cúl-est P.E. Class' competition. This nationwide initiative offers 4th and 5th class students from 15 schools the chance to win a dynamic Kellogg's GAA Cúl Camps session at their school. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Tipperary defender Mikey Breen has declined to engage with Patrick Horgan’s comment on RTÉ’s League Sunday programme that Cork were “caught” in last year’s All-Ireland final.

A guest on last Sunday’s highlights programme, retired Cork hurler and Irish Examiner columnist Horgan, when casting an eye over the upcoming Munster championship opener between the counties, said Cork were “caught” when falling to the Premier on a 3-27 to 1-18 scoreline in last year’s decider. Cork led by six at the break before being subsequently outgunned 3-14 to 0-2.

“Tipp do have great players, and obviously they won the All-Ireland last year, but I just worry that a lot of important players for them have taken a while to come back, and maybe they played [against Kilkenny], but that is their only game. It is very hard to go from one game into the heat of championship in four weeks’ time," Horgan said.

He added: “They are good athletes; I’ve been around them, they are strong, fit, and all that. It is just the speed of championship is different. If they can get that right, they’ll have some chance, but other than that, I think Cork, they're different.

“Obviously they were caught last year and they can never take that away, but they’ll definitely have the bit between their teeth when they go to Thurles,” was Horgan’s full appraisal of the Munster Round 1 game on April 19.

Asked by the Irish Examiner what he made of Horgan’s remark, Breen, who marked the Cork forward in last year’s final, said “I've no real comment on the word 'caught'”.

Breen did, however, give his impression of how Tipp and Cork were differently perceived going into last July’s final.

“There is no denying they were the spoken team of last year, how they went about their business right throughout the year, through the League and Munster championship. They probably had expectations themselves to really, really perform,” said the Tipp corner-back.

“Look, we got that performance on the biggest stage, which for us, it is what we went after in training. What we produced in the second half was a result of the hard work that we put in in training and what we seen day in, day out from all of our players.

“So yeah, I've no real comment on the word 'caught', but that is the way we saw it. I know there was a narrative that they were really flying it, but we just had to do our business and we fortunately did that.”