Hitting 'rock bottom' the catalyst, says Fanning

Tipperary vice-captain Declan Fanning believes hitting rock bottom after the county’s surprise Munster reversal to Cork in their first outing was the catalyst behind the county's success in re-grouping and reaching a second consecutive GAA Hurling All-Ireland final.

For the second time in 12 months the Premier County hurlers will be at Croke Park on All-Ireland final day looking to topple reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and in the process derail that county’s five-in-a-row bid.

It all seems like a far cry since Tipperary were dumped out of the Munster Championship back in May on the back of a 10-point defeat.

Fanning believes lessons were learnt in that defeat.

“At the time we felt we were ready but we probably weren’t,” admits the Killenaule clubman.

“When we sat down afterwards and talked about it, we probably weren’t up to the pace in training that we would want to be.

“It was a real eye-opener for us because before that game everybody was saying there was only one team ahead of us, which was Kilkenny.

“After that game we felt we were on the bottom rung of the ladder. We really were at rock bottom and had to build again.

“We didn’t think it was beyond us but we knew it was going to be difficult to come through the Qualifiers.

“Tipp wouldn’t have a great record in them but that first game against Wexford, we just focused on the game at hand and then it was just game after game and trying to build on that.”

Asked for a season turning point he points to the quarter-final success over Galway at Croke Park.

“I think it was the Galway game – the last minutes especially,” adds Fanning.

“After that game we were back where we would have been had we beaten Cork and gone on from there and it was then that we could say 'we are where we want to be' – the same place we aimed to be if things had gone properly.

“It was then we realised that we were in with a good shot.”

Incredibly for a county with a pedigree and tradition like Tipperary, last year’s final appearance was their first since the 2001 success.

Since last year’s final involvement was all new to the vast majority of the team, Fanning is hoping that the experience stands to the team but at the same conscious of the fact that it guarantees them nothing.

“I would hope it would count for something,” he continues.

“As the cliché goes, you have to lose one to win one but I’d say definitely people know what is ahead of them now in the whole build-up to final.

“You would imagine that it will stand to you but it still boils down to half three on Sunday. People are saying that this year’s final will be brilliant game but every year differs.”

While the experience may assist the men in blue and gold this weekend, Fanning is not using last year’s disappointment as the driving force behind this year’s challenge.

He hasn’t watched a re-run of the game and admits he tried to put the defeat behind him at the earliest opportunity.

He added: “It was hard for a long time.

“We played Club games quite soon after it and it’s hard to know whether that’s a good thing or bad thing. Your head mightn’t be in it. I suppose the weeks go on and the more you’re hurling the more you move on.

“However it’s not really until you get back training and it’s a new year that it dawns on you that the All-Ireland is up for grabs again. You keep yourself focused on that.

“I haven’t watched the game since. It’s something that I don’t really do.

“I don’t bother watching it over and over – when it’s over it’s over. It’s something I prefer not to do. There are some lads that pour over and over it but I leave it be. What’s done is done.”

For an exclusive final day piece with the Tipperary vice-captain see the 2010 GAA Hurling Match Day programme available at Croke Park for €5.