'It's about making your players brave': Tipp boss Woodlock undeterred by final venue

Tipperary boss James Woodlock with Chris Dunne. Pic: James Lawlor/Inpho

It’s a cliché of sports management, but James Woodlock has been making hay while the sun shines, both on and off the playing field.

The Tipperary minor manager had hay to turn after their semi-final victory over Cork, and a hectic week of All-Ireland final build-up has been made even busier by the heatwave.

“All the farmers are out this week with mowers and tedders and so on, trying to get hay done, and I’m no different,” says Woodlock.

“I've got a lot of hay in the ground, so it gives me a great mix. Everyone has to do their work at the end of the day, and sport comes along as well. It gives you good perspectives and a break from work, too.” 

In that vein, when it comes to venue selection, Woodlock’s focus is purely on the field, rather than the surrounds.

He guided Tipp to a famous minor title on Kilkenny turf in 2024 and his latest crop are bidding to achieve the same feat against Limerick at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday afternoon (3pm throw-in).

“If you have a green field and goal posts at either end, I don't think it matters, and it shouldn’t matter to any team where they play,” says the Drom-Inch clubman.

“It's all about getting the performance. There's no match won on the day. Matches are won in the weeks and months and the training sessions prior to the game, always.

“It's the same four white lines, same goal posts, and you just have to perform. That's the way we take it. The venue really doesn't come into play for us, and I don't think it comes into play for any team.

“You can't pick and choose where you want to play sometimes. It's about making your players brave so that they don't mind where they play. They have the confidence to know that the work has already been done.” 

Woodlock sees his job as opening the players’ eyes to high-level inter-county performance, working with dieticians, video analysts, and strength and conditioning coaches, as well as the hurling and tactical elements. 

That work must be conducted in a condensed window.

“It's about trying to get them all to know each other, and all of this is done in a short period of time,” he says. “We're not entitled to hurl challenge matches at minor grade until February and you're out in championship then a month later, so it's quick.

“The likelihood of them all going on to U20 is low, only so many of them progress, and then less again progress to senior level, but they get the best possible start at minor level, really, from our perspective. 

"We try and open their eyes, as every management team does, to what's to come down the line.” 

Last year, Woodlock reflects that Tipp were knocked out “on a total of five points”, referring to a pair of two-point defeats and a one-point loss in their first three games.

This season, once they got up and running with a swashbuckling victory over Clare in Thurles, confidence and momentum blossomed across six successive wins.

“Some of them would never have experienced playing in Semple Stadium,” says Woodlock. “Some of them would never, ever have worn a Tipperary jersey until we picked them as a minor group. That brings its own pressure for them to stand out in Semple Stadium with a group of players for their first time.

“But that's what you're trying to get them to live and survive in. If you want to play at that level, that's what you must do.” 

Tipp are eyeing a third Irish Press Cup in five years, but Woodlock notes none of this group have that medal in their pocket. To achieve it, they’ll have to record a third win in three months against familiar foes, Limerick.

“What you do one day might not be enough the next day,” he says. “We have won our games as we went along and we still have loads to learn.

“We wouldn't have been happy in total with any of our displays this year, that we played for a full 60 minutes at the ability we can play at. That's what we're trying to get at.

“It'll be no different than our match on Saturday. We'll have to show improvements from our last day. That's the ultimate aim.”

Limerick: S Collins (Crecora/Manister); R Collins (Adare), W Ryan (Murroe/Boher), S Mitchell (Knockainey); J O’Riordan (Bruff), C Ryan (Monaleen), E Hennessy (Patrickswell); X Neligan (Kilmallock), J Roche (Blackrock); D Crowe (Doon), R Foley (Patrickswell), S Waters (Na Piarsaigh); E O’Sullivan (Adare), Z Bennis (Kildimo/Pallaskenry), R Horgan (Murroe/Boher).

Subs: J Murray (Patrickswell), D Horgan (Murroe/Boher), G O’Brien (Kilmallock), J O’Reilly (Ballybrown), J McCarthy (Ballybrown), P Collins (Tournafulla), C Hickey (Crecora/Manister), D Long (Pallasgreen), D O’Grady (Granagh/Ballingarry).

Tipperary: E Connolly (Carrick Swan); C Ryan (Newport), D Groome (Borris-Ileigh), C Collins (Galtee Rovers St. Pecaun’s); O Kennedy (Newport), J Finn (Golden Kilfeacle), T McLoughlin (Cahir); S Ryan (Borris-Ileigh), H Healy (Kilruane MacDonaghs); C Kennedy (Clonoulty Rossmore), C Morrisson (Moyle Rovers), É Tucker (Nenagh Éire Óg); Z O’Keeffe (Holycross Ballycahill), C Dunne (Gortnahoe Glengoole), KJ Dunne (Toomevara).

Subs: R Crosse (Boherlahan Dualla), S Burke (JK Brackens), C Gantley (Cappawhite), R McGrath (Kiladangan), J Moroney (Ballina), A Norton (Gortnahoe Glengoole), C O’Mahony (Thurles Sarsfields), J O’Meara (CJ Kickhams Mullinahone), C Tobin (CJ Kickhams Mullinahone).