HISTORY WON’T STOP THIS TIPP TEAM - SHEEDY
FORMER Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy got the sense at the end of last year’s All-Ireland final that this current Premier team would not be satisfied with just one Liam MacCarthy. Much has been made of Tipp’s failure to win backto-back All-Irelands over the past 50 years, but Michael Ryan and his players have started 2017 as if they are determined to redress that particular quirk of history. And Sheedy feels they are a team on a mission. ‘If you go back over the past few years, they have probably been close to getting a few more titles and the return of one over the past six years is a poor return based on the talent that they have at their disposal,’ says Sheedy, who led his county to the 2010 title, ending Kilkenny’s five-in-a-row bid. ‘But there has been Hawkeye [John O’Dwyer’s point deemed wide in the 2014 draw] and one or two other things. The margins were really tight and they just came up a bit short. ‘But I certainly got the sense after they won the final last year, they looked calculated and seemed like a bunch that weren’t happy to win just one. ‘I think they see what Kilkenny have done over the last number of years and they way they have dominated the sport, and I certainly feel there’s a drive within this group to try to put it back-to-back.’ Winning the League title in his first season as Tipp boss in 2008 was the springboard to eventual All-Ireland success, so Sheedy believes it is important that Galway aren’t given a similar catapult in the Gaelic Grounds this Sunday. ‘Galway have proven over the past couple of years that there is only a puck of the ball between them and Tipperary. I think both teams would like to get one over the other and that is what will make this a really good battle this weekend.’ However, Sheedy feels that Tipperary’s scoring power — they had 19 different scorers in the current League campaign — is currently giving them an edge. ‘The Tipperary half-back line have proven the platform over the last couple of years. ‘Nobody has managed to break that down so far and it will be interesting to see how Galway look to take on the half-back line on Sunday. ‘But obviously Tipperary have exceptional forwards as well, Séamie [Callanan] in general play and the two guys beside him, John McGrath and Noel. And then Bubbles to come in. ‘If you keep one forward quiet, someone else will go and do the damage. ‘And I think that’s what makes Tipp the team they are at the moment — they have a defence that is very, very sticky and hard to break down and up front. They have guys that will hurt you if they get space.’