Tipp squad stronger than last year, says Sheedy

Twelve months on from last year’s heart-breaking GAA Hurling All-Ireland final defeat to Kilkenny, Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy is confident that he now has a stronger squad as he prepares for Sunday’s renewal of rivalries with the five-in-a-row chasing Cats at Croke Park.

Tempting as it might have been not to tinker with the formula that came so close to toppling the Cats last year, Sheedy opted to freshen up his starting XV with a number of new faces, many of whom were part of the Minor team he led to All-Ireland success in 2006.

Last year, Noel McGrath and Padraic Maher made the step-up, but 2010 has seen a further infusion of youth with Michael Cahill, Gearóid Ryan and Patrick Maher all forcing their way in Sheedy’s plans.

Tipp are likely to have as many as five of the U21 team due to play Galway in the All-Ireland final at that grade next week in the Senior team on Sunday, while the squad is also freckled with players from the Minor winning teams of 2006 and ’07.

Sheedy points to the All-Ireland semi-final win over Galway, when he was forced to bring players off the bench at a critical time in the game, as evidence of the strength-in-depth of his squad. 





“I think the squad is in a strong position. The one time we needed the bench
was in the Galway game and we got it from the bench that day when the guys 
went in,” he says.

“Maybe, the last day (the semi-final win over Waterford), when we crept six or seven points ahead it wasn’t in the melting pot.

“But the one day we needed the impetus from the bench we got it. I wasn’t
 surprised to get it because we were getting it in training.

“We were having 
real headaches picking the team and picking the team for this All-Ireland is 
going to be no different.

“There is huge competition from within the squad 
and unless you have that competition, you know yourself, the day the team
 becomes easy to pick and when you know the same faces are going to appear 
that’s when you know that you don’t have competition and that is when you
are in real trouble.

“There is huge competition within the squad and they
deserve great credit for that.”



Sheedy concedes that, in hindsight, the extra games afforded by the Qualifiers may have helped him to assess his options and piece together his strongest team.

Tipperary relinquished their Munster title after a 10-point mauling by Cork on May 31 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh – their first Championship game since last year’s All-Ireland final.

It may not have felt like it on the day, but Sheedy concedes that losing to Cork, and the subsequent reaction from the players, was the making of their season. 





“Yeah. The qualifier route has not been bad for us but it did not feel like 
that on the 31st of May,” he adds.

“Hindsight is always a great thing in sport. For us, 
we would have loved to have got a third Munster title onto the scoreboard 
but it wasn’t to be.

“In fairness to the lads they have reacted in the best 
possible way.”

Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy is expected to announce his team for Sunday's game this evening. Log on to www.gaa.ie for all the latest team news from the Tipperary camp.