By John Harrington

Tipperary hurler Jason Forde says the Premier County's Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Final defeat to Kilkenny has left no lasting scars.

It was the second year in row that Tipperary have been well-beaten in the Allianz League Final and Forde admits their performance on the day was a disappointing one. 

But he's convinced Tipp can take more positives than negatives from their League campaign as a whole and will go into the Championship in good shape.

"You take the learnings from it," he said. "You see what you did well and where you can improve. You just put that on the backburner and look forward.

"We still have huge positives to take out of the league. We tried a lot of players and you're going to need that going into the Munster championship.

"Even in terms of the league final there was maybe three (players) that it was their first national final playing with Tipp, definitely starting anyway, which is a massive thing.

"You learn from those things and those guys will have great confidence just from getting to play in that. It'll stand to them then as they go forward into championship."

Perhaps the biggest positive from Tipperary's Allianz League campaign campaign was Forde's own form.

The Silvermines clubman was outstanding throughout it, scoring a total of 7-72, and believes a winter spent strengthening his hamstrings has helped him unlock his potential this year. 

An injury-free run in the team has allowed him to build up the sort of confidence and consistent form that eluded him in the past when injuries stalled his development.

“Getting a run in the team has been a big thing,” said Forde. “It's huge for confidence the more games you can play at that level, it just brings on your confidence massively.

“Injuries are another big thing. I suffered over the last few years maybe from overload, I don't know. But between Colleges and the training that goes on with Tipp I broke down at the start of the year a lot of years.

“You'd be going well for the first game or two in the League and then hamstrings were the big thing that were catching me.

“At the end of last year I just focused on building them up as much as I could in the gym to get as much into them as I could, and it seems to be working.

“Touch wood, I can stay injury free. Because when you get an injury like that it sets you back.

“Number one, you're trying to get back as quickly as you can and, number two, you're missing out on some of the fitness work and you could be shunted back in for club championships and then it's just rolling again.

“So if you can get that pre-season under your belt and be injury-free, it's a big thing.

Forde has played in a variety of positions over the course of his Tipperary career including stints at midfield and wing-forward with varying degrees of success.

He looks much more at home at full-forward though, and admits it’s his favoured position on the pitch.

“I think so, yeah,” he said. “I suppose it's probably been primarily where I would play with the club, between full and centre-forward, since I came onto the scene.

“The ball has to come through you to a certain extent and it's more of a central position. I'm just really enjoying it at the moment.

“Once the confidence is there you feel good going into games. You have your set routine and you just follow that and then you just let it flow on the day. That's the way it's been going so far.”

With Seamus Callanan close to full fitness again the quandary for Tipperary manager Michael Ryan will be whether to persist with Forde at full-forward or move him to another position to accommodate Callanan’s return.

“Yeah, it'll be interesting to see,” said Forde. “Obviously we'll be delighted to get Seamie back. He's been so consistent over the last couple of years and the scoring he's done and things like that.

“The leadership that he brings to it as well, he's a great guy to have in around the place and driving things in training. I suppose that'll be up to management to see what they think.

“He's played most of his hurling at full-forward and he's done incredible stuff for Tipperary.

“Management just have to see how thing are going and he's obviously still rehabbing from his injury so it'll be interesting to see what they do.

“Either way, I'll be comfortable playing in any of the six forward positions really. Once you're getting the starting jersey that's the main thing.”

The return of players like Callanan, Noel McGrath, Dan McCormack, and Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher from injury stints of varying lengths means competition for places in the Tipperary forward line for the championship campaign will be ferocious.

But with four matches in Munster over the course of as many weekends, Forde believes they’ll need all of that strength in depth to cope with what is likely to be a campaign of attrition.

“Definitely. I think we're playing four weeks on the bounce in the Munster championship, so it's unprecedented really we haven't really come across it.

“If you pick up a niggly injury, something small that before you would have had a couple of weeks to get yourself right and you might have been able to take it easy, now that flexibility is gone.

“If you get a niggly injury that could be it, that could be your Munster championship gone.

“So you're going to need to have someone that you know has played in league games and has played at the pace of inter-county hurling that can just slot in.

“And I think that's what Mick (Ryan) has done very well, he's used a lot of players so guys have that confidence where they know if they're doing it in training they know they're going to get the game-time.

“You're probably never going to be too far away from playing because there's no way realistically 15 of the same players are going to go out for four weeks on the bounce. On the law of averages, it's just not going to happen.”

First up for Tipperary is a trip the Gaelic Grounds to play Limerick on May 20, a venue and match-up that has always been a difficult one historically for the Premier County.

“I think we've enough experienced lads within the squad that have been there and done it,” says Forde.

“I don't think getting the heads right will be a problem for us. We'll be well aware of what's facing us and the massive challenge that Limerick will present.

“I know a lot of the Limerick players very well from the colleges and they're great lads. Having seen the league match between the two sides there was absolutely nothing in it so I don't expect anything different when we go to play them in championship, there'll be absolutely nothing in it.

“We'll have to be in tip-top shape coming into that and I'm sure it will be a cracker of a game as well down in Limerick. Looking forward to that and that's what our sole focus is on really at the minute.”