By John Harrington

You could only be impressed by the manner in which Tipperary manager Michael Ryan has acquitted himself so far in his first year in the job.

He’s moulded a new-look team with changes in every outfield line from the 2015 side, and from what we’ve seen so far that restructuring has improved the team.

A rejuvenated Michael Cahill has settled back nicely into the full-back line.

20-year-old Ronan Maher was given the chance to man the pivotal centre-back position which had been in a state of flux for a couple of years and has shone.

That allowed his brother Paudie to move to his best position of wing-back, where he is arguably enjoying his best ever season in the blue and gold.

Seamus Kennedy was also drafted into the half-back line and has been impressively assured for someone in his rookie Championship campaign.

Team captain Brendan Maher has suffered in recent years from being moved from one position to another, but now looks much happier in his favoured midfield role where he has established an impressive partnership with Michael Breen.

Few people in Tipperary would have viewed Dan McCormack as a candidate for the team at the start of the year because he isn’t one of the six most skilful hurlers or clinical finishers in the county.

But Ryan recognised his voracious work-ethic, unselfishness, and ability to contest in the air would bring the sort of balance to the Tipperary attack that was much needed.

The decision not to start John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway was viewed as a risk by many and a mistake by some, but in the end it was justified by the result and the impact O’Dwyer made from the bench.

It’s notable too that Ryan has gotten this Tipperary team playing a more physical and direct brand of hurling, which so far at least has served them very well.

The new Tipperary manager has also impressed with the honest and open way he has spoken in post-match interviews and pre-match press conferences.

So far then, he hasn’t put a foot wrong, but on Sunday he’ll walk onto the highest ledge of all as a manager for the first time ever.

He hurled in two All-Irelands in ’91 and ’97 and was a selector for four others in 2009, 2010, and 2014 (twice), but a new weight of responsibility will rest on his shoulders on Sunday when he contests his first All-Ireland as Tipperary manager. 

“The difference for me, and that has been all season, is that the buck stops with me,” says Ryan. “I am the one who needs to make decisions for this sort of evening (Tipperary’s All-Ireland Final press night) and that we need to tick all the boxes were need to tick.

“It is great to be in the Final. That actual game is the important piece. Is it that much different? Not really. I would say the experience I had working closely with Eamon (O’Shea) and Liam (Sheedy) previously stands to me.

“The concern is getting the guys to play the game. We are doing all the right things and that they are as well prepared as they can be for the day.”

The manner in which Ryan has brought Tipperary to this All-Ireland Final has earned him a new regard in the Premier County.

The decision to announce him as manager in waiting in October 2014 when Eamon O’Shea still had a year to run himself in the hot-seat was not a universally popular one at the time, but is now looking like sound practice.

“The first thing I would say about that is there was positive and negative reaction to that,” says Ryan. “It was a new departure for Tipp. The idea behind it was always to have continuity.

“Yes, we didn't have the success we wanted to have with Eamon and Paudie and Declan. But we absolutely believed we had embarked on what was the right course for this bunch of hurlers at this period in time.

“It was done to make sure that would continue. Too much change of personnel, in our experience, and I would have experienced it as player, is not conductive to building a team or laying the foundations for the future. That is my opinion. Now, you can be lucky or unlucky.

“The model we all aspire to is what they have achieved in Kilkenny. The kind of longevity Brian Cody has achieved is unbelievable. There are not four or five manager in the history of the GAA, I would image, who have given that sort of service. It is so successful.

“It is not the only component why Kilkenny are so successful, but I believe it to be a feature.”

The mixed feelings in the county about the managerial succession plan meant Ryan was under pressure going into his maiden campaign in a way few first-time managers are. The way Ryan sees it, it was only right that he should be.

“I do think, unlike a brand new appointment, I think I am not entitled to much grace, to be honest. I have been here a while; three years with Eamon and Liam and three more years with Eamon, Paudie and Declan.

“I am in my seventh year involved. If you search out around the county you will get plenty of opinion on that, that I am here too long.

“To be fair, and I acknowledged this at the beginning too, I cannot afford to get it wrong. I think that is very fair. I have been here long enough.”

He’s been there long enough to know why Tipperary have consistently struggled to get the better of Kilkenny since beating them in the 2010 All-Ireland Final. Of the 13 League and Championship matches the teams have contested since, Tipp have triumphed just twice.

“I think you can put it simply down to it that they have trumped us each day on intensity,” says Ryan. “That is the initial bar we have to reach. If we can break even on that, and get a bit lucky here and there, who knows. Various little things can change things after that.

“I think intensity is the great leveller here, and their ability to be relentless on that. They never let that up. I don't know when I have ever seen recent Kilkenny teams not reaching a high level of intensity.

“I have zero doubt that is the challenge. We know exactly the levels that will be required and to sustain it over 72, 72, 74 minutes. It is not born out of past losses to Kilkenny. This group is doing it for themselves.

“This is a new journey for them. They are having a fantastic run. We need to concentrate on the here and now, not past results against Kilkenny. Kilkenny's victories are confined to history, fantastic history for them; poor history for us, unfortunately.

“It is the here and now, and what we can do in the future is what is occupying us now. There is a consistency Kilkenny reach that the rest of us need to get to. At various stages we all are capable of getting to it, but none of us as yet have been able to sustain it as Kilkenny do. Even if they are only trading blow with you 50/50, they seldom let the intensity down at crucial periods.

“Directly after half time they generally attack. Up to half time they can ebb and flow. But they are a really, really strong second half team. They can put you to the sword if you are not ready.”

The general belief in Tipperary would be that if their team can match Kilkenny for work-rate and intensity, then the sheer scoring power they have in their inside forward line can fire them to victory.

Matching Kilkenny’s intensity is a thing very few teams have managed to do though, and Ryan admits Tipperary’s ability to do so is the biggest variable going into this match.

“I have little doubt but it will be a great spectacle. When Tipperary and Kilkenny meet you generally get all the best attributes of hurling packed into that 70 minutes or whatever; be that incredible skill, huge intensity or real man to man clashes and a battle fought tooth and nail. You will have all of that on the 4th.

“The given here is that Kilkenny are past masters at this. They know the level and they will get to it. The variable is the rest of us. Will we get to the level? Can we sustain the level? Can we break through any perceived glass ceiling that is there?

“In fairness, no one created those glass ceilings only ourselves. Kilkenny have not been a sitting target for anyone. They have evolved. They have had a change in personnel.  But the constant is the intensity.”

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