IT WILL BE A FEROCIOUS MUNSTER THIS YEAR

KARL O’KANE

LIAM SHEEDY insists three-in-a-row All-ireland winners Limerick are in for their greatest challenge yet in a “ferocious” Munster Championship.

Indeed, the double Liam Maccarthy-winning Tipperary manager is predicting all five teams will be “at a really good standard”.

Sheedy isn’t so sure about talk that Tipp are in transition and believes the hurt from a poor 2022 will drive them on.

Colm Bonnar was “relieved of his duties” by Premier officials after just one year with Liam Cahill (above) taking over.

But Sheedy (right) believes the county’s All-ireland-winning U21 and

U20 teams – both managed by Cahill

– are now ready to go.

The Portroe man, who helped out with Monaghan footballers last year but is taking this season out, said:

“Most of those guys, they started training with me so they have had four years of programming of an inter-county senior set-up.

“They will be a lot stronger. It’s very clear that you need to be hitting that 24, 25 mark before you really start to get into that environment where you are at the peak of it.

“It’s exciting. Liam knows them all, he has still got that mix of the older guys and then the young brigade that he knows inside out. A lot of people would have said Tipp are in transition.

I’m not so sure, I think he has a really good set-up. The thing about Tipperary generally is you’ll be well able to find 15 really good hurlers and a few to come in and make a difference, so I think they will be looking forward eagerly to the season.

“I think it is going to be the most competitive Munster Championship we’ll have had in a number of years.

“Limerick will be challenged in Munster to a level they haven’t been challenged before.”

Sheedy continued: “They were pushed to the pin of their collar by Kilkenny and Galway and obviously in the Munster final.

“But in fairness to them, they have a real knack of finding enough to get them over the line and that’s not an easy thing to do when you have been across the line so often. They had to earn it last year.”

But Sheedy insists the return of double Hurler of the Year, Cian Lynch “shouldn’t be underestimated”.

“He was operating at a different level than anybody else in the Championship in 2021,” he said.

“He ran the game for them and then they managed to win it without him. That takes some going.”

Cahill brought a running game to Waterford, with going for the jugular and hitting goals a top priority.

And Sheedy believes he is going the same way with Tipperary. He said: “Tipp have every right to focus on getting into those top three spaces in Munster. That is a priority, get a few guys through the league campaign, blood them and give them a bit of experience of it.

“But looking at them, I think they created eight goal chances against Clare in the Munster League. If you’re scoring goals in the Munster Championship, that gives a team a great platform.”

TOMORROW..DON’T MISS NEW COLUMNIST SHANE DOWLING