RYAN: QUICK TURNAROUND UNFAIR ON US
TIPPERARY selector TJ Ryan believes that the six-day turnaround between their opening two Championship games is unfair.
The Premier were the odd ones out in Munster last weekend as they received their bye in the first round.
They open with a daunting trip to Limerick on Sunday before travelling to face a revitalised Waterford in Walsh Park the following Saturday.
Ryan isn’t too perturbed about facing the All-Ireland champions first up but feels every team should have a fortnight between games.
He said: “You’re going to have to play them whenever you’re playing them. We have a very short turnaround to the Waterford game. I believe there should be two weeks between every game.
“Playing Limerick on a Sunday and then having to go to Walsh Park the following Saturday. You know there’s five or six players going to pick up knocks and they mightn’t be available the weekend after.
Players
“When we played Limerick in Thurles last year, we had three players who couldn’t play the weekend after (v Waterford). Jake (Morris) was one of them, Gearóid O’Connor got injured and couldn’t play against Waterford so you’re carrying injuries from one game to the other and you won’t be 100 per cent.
“A fairer system would be a two-week break between every game.”
With two testing away assignments before they welcome Clare to Thurles on May 19, Ryan admitted: “If we come out with three points this year in the first two games, I’ll be happy.”
Like virtually every other team out there, Tipperary have a poor recent record against Limerick, who they haven’t beaten in the Championship in five years and even that 2019 win was little more than a dead rubber round robin game, with John Kiely’s side beating Tipp in the Munster final a fortnight later by 12 points.
Since Liam Cahill took charge of Tipp, they’ve been beaten in the counties’ two League meetings, though they managed a draw in last year’s Munster round robin.