TIPP HAVE WHAT IT TAKES
important piece of evidence. With Michael Fennelly taking his tentative first step to recovery from a career-threatening Achilles injury this weekend, the rate of his rehabilitation could be key to the duration of Kilkenny’s summer. How his dual role as primary ball-winner around the middle and defensive bulwark when needed was missed last September.
Pádraig Walsh’s foot injury means major doubts remain at three and six. Kilkenny’s title credentials can be discounted unless they are resolved. It’s no coincidence that Tipperary made the breakthrough after unearthing a gem in Ronan Maher, the first Under 21 to line out at centre-back on a Munster senior title winning team since the U21 grade came into being 52 years earlier. The injustice of the GAA’s scheduling means that the Championship proper starts this afternoon with the glamour clash of Tipperary and Cork, a week after the summer ended for the Kerry and Meath hurlers. It will be a months’ time before they next puck a ball in anger.
Three matches in quick succession has left Laois crippled with injuries, making it easier for Wexford to live up to expectations and dispatch the Leinster round-robin winners to seal a sell-out home game against Kilkenny.
Keep an eye out for suspended Davy Fitzgerald in the row of seats just behind the Wexford dugout.
In this newspaper, Eddie Brennan tips Kilkenny for the Liam MacCarthy Cup on the basis that with a full hand by late summer, Ger Aylward included, ‘the empire can strike back’.
Galway need to prove they have the consistency to not just win Leinster but give Joe Canning the medal his career deserves.
With a favourable draw that saves stepping on a Cork-TipperaryWaterford landmine until the provincial final, Clare have taken on the favoured ‘dark horses’ role for Munster and beyond.
Look at the array of front-foot firepower at their disposal – former Hurler of the Year Tony Kelly and his All-Star partner in crime from 2013, Colm Galvin. There is also the ball-winning and robust foil of John Conlon and the blossoming talent of Aron Shanagher.
Get Shane O’Donnell and Conor McGrath back fit and flying and they certainly have the capability to end a wretched Munster Championship record.
It’s on the back foot though that they still look vulnerable, particularly in light of Oisín O’Brien’s cruciate knee injury.
Taking a dive in the League quar- ter-final has taken Waterford out of the limelight.
With the debate sparked by Derek McGrath’s decision to take parental leave and effectively plot and plan full-time, it’s almost been conveniently forgotten that for two solid years, the League winners of 2015 and finalists of 2016 were the most consistent team in the country. They had their foot on Kilkenny’s throat in the All-Ireland semi-final when leading by five with the clock counting down at Croke Park. They possess a prime weapon in the Hurler of the Year Austin Gleeson and just need to trust in their attacking instincts more, particularly with the Bennett brothers – Shane and Stephen – stepping up.
A leap of faith can lead them all the way to September.
Their League final black out aside, there is no doubting Tipperary have the strongest squad in the country and are rightly favourites to debunk history and prove they have what it takes to put titles back-to-back for the first time since 1964-65.
Today’s opponents Cork, though, will give a far more searching examination than 12 months ago. Gone is the identity crisis of playing William Egan in a sweeper’s role to keep the score down.
Just like the shimmering prospect of the new Páirc Uí Chaoimh, new foundations have been put down over the spring and players like Luke Meade, Shane Kingston and Mark Coleman will be around for a long time to come.
Enjoy days like today at Thurles while you can. Chances are, this will be the last knock-out Munster Championship. Next year will likely see a home and away roundrobin series between the top five teams in Munster and Leinster.
Galway must give Joe Canning the medal his career deserves
Clare have taken on the “dark horses” role for Munster and beyond