Saturday, February 13

Allianz Hurling League Division IA

Tipperary v Dublin, Thurles, 7pm (Live on Setanta)  

Tipperary and Dublin is the box-office attraction on the opening night of the Allianz Hurling League, the sides meeting at Semple Stadium in Thurles for what should be a tasty appetiser for the weekend’s action.  

The hosts begin the new season with a new manager, Michael Ryan having succeeded his former boss Eamon O’Shea as manager at the end of last season, though the succession plan had been in place long before that. How the Upperchurch-Drombane man fares in the hot seat will be fascinating to watch, especially in a county where expectations are so high and honeymoon periods are not afforded.  

Tipperary supporters may have no choice but to be patient, though, as four of their most experienced players have retired in the off-season, Lar Corbett, Shane McGrath, Conor O’Mahony and James Woodlock leaving a void that will be very hard to fill this season.  

While Ryan, who has handed out debuts to Daire Quinn (Nenagh Éire Óg) and Dan McCormack (Boris-Ileigh) for Saturday’s game, has undoubtedly decided to try out younger players, there are also suggestions that the new manager will deviate from the style preferred by O’Shea – constant movement and positional fluidity in attack – and opt for a much more direct approach.  

The recruitment of Séamus Kennedy and Steven O’Brien, two hugely imposing, powerful men who made their names with the county’s underage football teams, is a statement of intent from Ryan and his backroom team of Declan Fanning, Conor Stakelum and John Madden, though neither player is involved on Sunday.        

After deciding not to participate in the Munster Senior Hurling League, Tipperary have fed on a diet of challenge games in recent weeks, with the 7-29 to 0-6 victory over Mary Immaculate College standing out as a statement of intent, as did the contributions of two potential breakout stars, John McGrath (1-7) and Conor Kenny (2-2).  

Saturday night, therefore, will be our first chance to see how Ryan intends to set Tipperary up. Noel McGrath, who starts in attack having overcome serious illness last year, says it will be much later on in the campaign before we see their style emerging, though.  

“We haven’t won an All-Ireland in six years, so every year things will change, things will be different, no matter who is over you,” says McGrath. “As players we have to try change to make things better, work better, whatever the management ask us we will do. And do it the best you can.”  

On the injury front, Tipperary are without Séamus Callanan, who will be out for another couple of weeks with a broken finger, while Conor O’Brien and Kieran Bergin are also sidelined. New panelist Seán Curran will miss the entire Allianz League campaign with a medial knee ligament injury.  

In the equivalent fixture last year, Dublin beat Tipperary by 12 points in Parnell Park, a game that showcased an exciting new brand of hurling being promoted by Ger Cunningham, who had just taken over from Anthony Daly at the time. It was something of a false dawn, however, as the Dubs struggled for the rest of the year and never quite hit the heights of the early spring again.  

With a very impressive Walsh Cup campaign under their belts – Dublin beat Wexford in the final after a nine-point win over Galway in the semi-final – Dublin have made a solid start to the year and certainly have a head start on most of their rivals in terms of preparations.       

“We had a good positive start to the year with the Walsh Cup victory so everyone is eager to impress and get going,” veteran attacker David O'Callaghan says. “To win the league would be nice but, from a team perspective, we've got a lot of new lads coming into the team so I think you are going to see a lot of lads getting a jersey for the first time. Hopefully, we can gel it together as well.”  

Panelists Simon Lambert and Alan Nolan were jettisoned by Cunningham in the off-season, while the loss of Danny Sutcliffe is a serious blow to their aspirations for the season.  

However, Oisín Gough and Joey Boland have been major additions to the defence this year and Eamonn Dillon hit 5-12 in the Walsh Cup, while David Treacy is another player who should feel the benefit of Cuala’s run to the Leinster club final.

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