This year’s hurling Championship is filled with surprises. With the Leinster Final being contested by Galway & Wexford, and Cork looking like their fortunes are returning to the days of Joe Deane & the O’Connor twins – the next round of both the qualifiers & the finals are crucial.
SHOCK DEFEAT
One team that understand this are the reigning champions Tipperary. With a star-studded squad & a wealth of talent available to the Premier county, it’s fair to say that their defeat against Cork in the Munster Quarter-Final came as a complete shock to the country. Despite Cork looking like the real deal, Tipperary’s combination of talent & experience were heavily favoured to overcome the Rebels who haven’t hit the heights of their early noughties team for quite a while.
We’ve been working with Brendan Maher & Bonner Maher this year by providing the Lean Muscle Plan to them, and the latter’s return to full fitness will surely provide a boost for the Tipperary camp. We caught up with him during the week for his thoughts on the back-door route the Champions are now going to have to take to make it into the semi-finals where they certainly belong.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of the qualifiers. There are some top teams involved, and you have to take one game at a time – any team that comes through will have built momentum.”
ONE GAME AT A TIME
Tipperary managed to avoid Kilkenny in the first-round draw and are instead out against Westmeath. Yet despite eluding the Cats, the Tipperary camp are treating the Westmeath game as big as any. Nailing each stage of preparation will be key for the squad, and we also spoke with last year’s captain Brendan who outlined such a view in the following words:
“The quote I try to live by is ‘Today I will do what others won’t, so that tomorrow I can do what others can’t”.
If a mindset like that is applied to the incredible talent the Premier County has at its disposal – don’t be surprised to see the Blue & Gold back in Croke Park come September!