Tipperary footballer, Conor Sweeney pictured at AIB’s launch of the 2021 GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as AIB celebrated the return of summer football and the reignition of county rivalries nationwide ahead of some of #TheToughest games of the year.
By John Harrington
Tipperary football captain, Conor Sweeney, says the inter-county football championship will benefit from the introduction of the Tailteann Cup.
The Tier 2 Championship was due to begin in 2020 featuring Division 3 and Division 4 teams that failed to reach a provincial final but has been postponed indefinitely due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
The hope is that it will finally be introduced in 2022, and Sweeney believes it’s just what the championship is crying out for.
“I’m all for it, I’m looking forward to it,” he says. “I think it is what the championship needs. I think if you’re good enough to play in the All-Ireland and compete for Sam Maguire then you’re good enough to be there, if you’re not then you’re in the Tailteann Cup.
“If any team complains about that, then just go and get out of Division 4, get out of Division 3 and prove to people that you’re good enough to compete for Sam Maguire. I’ve absolutely no problem with it. I think the championship needs it, the game needs it.
“I think the gap between the best teams and the teams at the bottom is just too big. You look at the results that have gone by on the opening weekend. There’s a lot of teams taking hammerings so I think it’s as clear as ever that there needs to be at least two divisions and I’m all for it anyway whatever way it goes.
“I just hope they keep the provincials that’s all I would say on it. I think there were two proposals that came up and I’d be for the one keeping the provincials, either moving it earlier in the season to springtime so you can still play your Munster and Leinster championships and then maybe have your two-tiered All-Ireland – that’s the way I would go about it anyway.”
Conor Sweeney celebrates with team-mate Bill Maher after Tipperary's victory over Cork in the 2020 Munster SFC Final.
Last year Sweeney and his Tipperary team-mates experienced the incredible high of winning the county’s first Munster Senior Football title for 85 years, but they’ve struggled so far in 2021 to build on that success.
They were relegated from Division 3 of the Allianz Football League, something Sweeney admits was hard to stomach.
“It was really tough, it definitely wan't part of the plan for sure but that's the way it goes,” he says.
“You just need to get on with it. We've definitely processed it and put it to the back of our heads by now, but I tell you one thing it was tough. It was a tough few days after it.
“You talk about the highs and lows of sport between here and six months ago, but that's sport and it's why we love it. It can be great and it can be cruel at the same time. Listen, we got ourselves there so we need to get ourselves out of it.
“That's for next year, the league is done now and there's a big test coming up around the corner so we need to get our heads straight for that one or else we could be in for a tough day. Training is going well which is a major positive.”
Conor Sweeney of Tipperary calls for a mark ahead of Sean T Dillon of Kerry during the 2020 McGrath Cup Group B match between Tipperary and Kerry at Clonmel Sportsfield in Clonmel, Tipperary.
The Premier County will be the biggest of underdogs when they face Kerry in Sunday’s Munster SFC semi-final.
The Kingdom are the form team in the country right now and Sweeney admits it’s a mental challenge to convince yourself you’re good enough to beat them.
“A lot of teams going in to play the top teams are probably beaten before they even take to the field,” he says.
“So we've a job to do mentally to prepare ourselves for what's coming. You need to cling onto straws, to anything that's going.
“We're reigning Munster champions, that's one thing we have. Albeit it's something new that we're not used to, but you need to take that confidence into the game. It's on in Thurles which is another small nugget, there might be a bit of a crowd in which might give us a lift.
“Other than that we need to drive home the message that we believe in what we're doing in training, we believe we can compete against them. All we're looking for is to give ourselves a chance to beat them.
“We know how tough it's going to be. They're the in-form team at the moment. They're playing some of the best football they've ever played. And very few people will give us a chance but we'll be quietly confident hoping that we can put in a performance that's actually worthy of competing against Kerry at this point in time.
“Some of the football they're playing is absolutely frightening at the moment. They've got that bit between their teeth for sure this year.”
