The final pieces fell into place last night with the expected news that Henry Shefflin would start his bid for a new record, 10th All-Ireland medal on the Kilkenny bench.
Manager Brian Cody has made three changes, recalling goalkeeper Eoin Murphy and Richie Power after injury and in one of his customary All-Ireland rabbits out of the hat, naming Walter Walsh at corner forward with Pádraig Walsh dropping to the bench.
Walsh’s debut was an All-Ireland final two years ago when he was sprung for the replay and ended up Man of the Match. His form hasn’t been compelling this year but obviously over the past few weeks in training he has produced stuff that Cody likes and the hit rate of the manager’s ‘surprise’ – it had been the subject of much speculation – inclusions is impressive.
The presence of imposing corner forwards in Kilkenny All-Ireland teams didn’t start with Walsh making hay on Johnny Coen in 2012 and has been productive all the way back to when Shefflin loomed over Simon Whelehan 14 years ago.
This is the fourth All-Ireland between Tipperary and Kilkenny in six years during which time they have also contested three league finals. If there is any weariness it's a pity because this weekend's latest instalment promises to be the best since the two epics in 2009 and 2010.
Eamon O'Shea took the big risk of coming back to take over Tipperary last year. As Liam Sheedy's coach in 2009 and 2010, he was involved in the remarkable achievement of preparing teams whose best displays by far were saved for the All-Ireland final.
The difficult years that followed for Tipp were marked by injuries, loss of confidence and eventually meltdown in the notorious semi-final of two years ago. For O’Shea to return was almost a tacit undertaking to restore the county. It may have taken two full seasons but for the first time since 2010 Tipperary go into a big championship meeting with Kilkenny on an upswing.
It can be seen in the painstakingly restored form of players who as very young men won the 2010 title. Brendan Maher, Shane McGrath and especially Pádraic Maher, who was on track to become a Colossus, have known the pain of unfulfilled potential since the great day four years ago.
Special project
Séamus Callanan was a peripheral figure, albeit one with great promise, and O’Shea has made him a special project this year, encouraging him and making him the point of the attack. He has been rewarded with a Hurler of the Year candidate with 7-38 scored in five matches.
By way of caveat HOTY candidates don’t always survive All-Ireland finals in good shape. Three years ago Callanan playing on the wing was also marked by JJ Delaney, who plucked the ball off him after nine minutes to take a classic catch. The Tipp man didn’t survive half-time. Tomorrow is a major challenge but three years on, one he can meet.
New faces introduced include James Barry, a clever and adaptable alumnus of UCC’s Fitzgibbon tradition, whose ability to switch to full back has liberated Pádraic Maher to operate freely at wing back and John O’Dwyer who debuted last year and plays with a swagger uninhibited by any association with the bad years.
Lar Corbett became Hurler of the Year in 2010 but it is a measure of the turmoil of his interim seasons that very few take that as a starting point when discussing his likely impact. It is perhaps O’Shea’s achievement that Corbett comes into the weekend under the cover of, if not darkness then twilight.
In hurling as well as football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team and Kilkenny represent the ultimate complication. In all of Cody’s years they have failed to reach the All-Ireland in only three out of 16 championships, including last year. Each time they won the following year’s title.
Ran ragged
Kilkenny however have struggled against pace in Croke Park since 2012 when Galway ran them ragged for one and a half matches out of three. They eventually figured it out but even this year
Limerick
were threatening something similar when the monsoon season arrived.
Cody’s teams have remarkable resilience and play with the desperation of ageing teams who’ve won nothing or too little and certainly not like players whose pockets are so full that the medals can’t even rattle. Throw in the desire to give Henry Shefflin a 10th Celtic Cross – the roar when he comes on will shake the stadium – and it’s a powerful incentive.
But Tipperary are the ones with the misspent youth, the team that knows they owe their talents more than has been achieved. That motivation has to be almost vibrant
Their back nine soared against Cork and half of their forwards have room for improvement so a season’s best is possible.
Tipp like to be doing well. Teams from the county rarely respond well to getting a fright along the way or having to eke out the sort of trench-warfare conquests that empower Kilkenny when they have to produce them.
The past teaches stark lessons. Kilkenny are by far more reliable but Tipperary at their best won’t be beaten. Which is it?
Tipperary have waited too long for this chance not to make it count with a gifted team in what should be the prime of their careers. They’ve failed before and abjectly on occasion.
But not this time.
