Karin Blair determined to help drive Tipp to the top

By John Harrington

It’s knock-out camogie from this weekend on as Tipperary play Clare and Waterford play Kilkenny in the Glen Dimlex All-Ireland quarter-finals.

If Tipperary can beat the Banner they’ll have qualified for the last four of the competition for the eight time in nine years.

That’s a testament to the level of consistency that the Premier County has reached, but in all that time they’ve yet to smash through the semi-final glass ceiling and reach the biggest day of all.

There have been some close misses along the way, notably the agonising one-point defeats to Galway and Waterford respectively in the 2024 and 2023 and All-Ireland semi-finals.

Considering that history it feels like even reaching a final would be an important step for Tipperary to take regardless of whether they’d win it or not if they got there.

Karin Blair isn’t inclined to agree. A member of the Tipperary panel since 2019, she’s part of a generation of players that has striven hard to raise the county’s level and what keeps them going isn’t their determination to reach an All-Ireland Final, but to win one.

“Our goal every year is to win that All-Ireland,” she says. “I know there's a narrative that we struggle to break past the semi-finals, but I do think that's fairly external.

“That's never really mentioned among our group. Our goal every year is to win the All-Ireland and this year is no different.

“Obviously getting there would be a huge achievement, but for us that wouldn't be enough. We want to win it and push on.

“It would be huge if we could do it. It's the sort of thing you dream of when you're younger. You want to represent your county and you want to win an All-Ireland.

“That's the top, it doesn't get much better than that, it's the pinnacle of the sport. It would be absolutely huge and I know all the other girls in the Tipp squad would say the exact same thing.”

If you want to figure out how to beat the best teams then the more often you play them the better.

It’ll be interesting to see then whether this year’s newly restructured championship, which pitted Tipperary against Cork, Galway, and Waterford, in the group phase will have brought the Premier County on.

They lost all three matches but were very competitive against both Cork and Waterford in particular, and Blair hopes the short-term pain of those group losses will lead to some long-term gain in the knock-out rounds.

“It was always going to be a challenge playing the top teams week in, week out, and unfortunately a few of the girls picked up some niggles along the way," she says.

“Different girls had to step up to the challenge and they did, which was great, and we got to try out a number of different things.

“Obviously the results didn't go our way, but we definitely did get some strong performances that we can take a lot from.

“In some of those games there was just really a puck and a ball in it so I suppose we'll be looking at that for confidence and not necessarily the result.”

If Tipperary are to have a real cut off this year’s championship, then the keen edge that Blair will provide in the middle of the pitch will be crucial.

Last year she played at full-back and performed well there, but she looks more at home in the middle third where her natural athleticism and skill can better utilised.

“I do prefer being outside the field now getting to play my own game a bit more, it’s been enjoyable,” says Blair.

“When I was younger, underage, and with the club, I was always a forward. And then it was only a couple of years ago that they decided to try me out in the backs.

"That stuck and it seemed I was getting further and further in the backs until I reached the peak at the full-back.

“But, yeah, I'm getting a bit of a run out the field now, which is nice again.

“I’m getting to almost play my own game in a sense, as opposed to just stopping an opponent, and getting to push forward and hopefully create a bit more of the scores as opposed to just strictly defending.

“I do think though that playing in different positions has improved me as a player because even now when you're tracking back and defending, you kind of know what the forwards don't like. So I suppose it is kind of handy that you kind of have a bit of a more all-around view.

“And the way the game's gone as well nowadays, positions can be very loose. Just because you're playing forwards or midfield doesn't mean you're not going to end up at the far corner, at the opposite side of the pitch.

“Those skills, they do kind of come up in different areas and different moments in the match so it is good to have that kind of all-around view now.”

One reason to believe that Tipperary might be able to raise their level this year has been the emergence of Caoimhe Stakelum.

The Premier County probably needed another forward they could consistently rely on for scores, and the Thurles Sarsfields woman, who has only just completed her Leaving Cert, has certainly delivered in that regard with a series of very impressive displays in the League and Championship thus far.

“She's unreal,” says Blair of Stakelum. “Looking at her, you'd never think it's her first year playing up senior. Just her presence and her strength and her collectiveness, I suppose we could all take a piece out of her book.

“She's brought a huge injection of energy. We've so many younger girls coming up along and they're just driving us on forward. So it really is making everything much more competitive within the camp itself as well.”

It looks like a happy Tipp camp too, based on the videos that emerged from their dressing-room after their Munster Final victory over Waterford this year.

“Yeah, there’s a great team spirt there and I I think that's been really building every year," says Blair. "Especially this year the new girls have just slotted in seamlessly.

“There's no, 'she's older', or 'she's been here long', it is one big collective and we are a very tight bunch and I think that shows on the field as well.

“We're willing to fight for each other and help the next girl out. I think it is translating well and I think our management have done a really strong job of bringing us all together.

“We're just keeping our focus very internal within the camp and building ourselves up as we go. Hopefully we can just get the result now on Sunday against Clare and take another step in our path.”

Sunday, July 5

Glen Dimplex Camogie All-Ireland Senior quarter-final

Clare v Tipperary, Croke Park, 1.30pm (RTE)