IN 2012 IT proved beyond them and it was the same in 2014.
Both seasons saw the Tipperary footballers advance to the All-Ireland senior football last 12 stage but that hurdle was too high to jump over.
Down administered the punishment in Mullingar in 2012 and Galway sent them packing in Tullamore in 2014.
They fell short in Round 3 last summer against Tyrone, that familiar July feeling of disillusionment enveloping their squad as another campaign ground to a halt.
How has 2016 swerved on a different course? For attacker Conor Sweeney, it all stems from that groundbreaking win over Cork on 12 June, the consequences of which reached further than shaking up the Munster football landscape.
โGetting to the provincial final, weโre not playing as many games in the qualifiers. The last few years, weโve been playing three or four games in the qualifiers and by the time we get to the last 12, the body is just not right.
โYouโve taken serious hits. It just takes the pressure off when you get to a provincial final.
โI think the last few minutes against Derry (in Round 4), their legs were gone because theyโd played a couple of tough games beforehand. That was definitely a factor.
โI think we took great confidence from the Cork match. The squad and the panel took a lot of hits throughout the start of the year. Once we beat Cork, every lad got serious confidence.โ
Tipperary had three weeks to pick themselves up after being swatted aside by Kerry. The time frame was needed after being rocked by that defeat.
โThe Munster final day was a tough enough day for us all,โ reflects Sweeney.
โTotally under performed and as a result we got beat by 10 points. Thatโs the reality of it that if you donโt show up against the top sides, theyโll steam roll you.
โWe really wanted to rectify it again the next day because weโre after beating a good Cork side and we wanted to show it wasnโt a flash in the pan.โ
The win over Galway was a career high performance for the Tipperary players. They thrived on the senior stage, in the Croke Park setting and with an All-Ireland semi-final prize at stake.
Sweeney plundered 2-2 and his display reflected the attacking ethos that Tipperary adopted.
โWeโre confident in our own ability. Weโve been confident for the last few years, itโs just this year weโre after getting exposure.
โOur panel isnโt big, we use about 17 players for the majority of our games. I think weโre just really close, you saw the last day, our work rate and our intensity was sky high the last day. It was definitely a lot better than Galwayโs.โ
The last four stage is a reward for years of toil. Sweeney made his debut for the Tipperary senior side in the low-key environs of a McGrath Cup game in 2010 against UL.
He made his championship debut that June against Laois but it in his seventh summer, that he has burst to prominence as a Tipperary senior footballer.
โProbably a lot of years before this year it hasnโt been easy, like. But I think you just have to find something, thereโs something in the back of your head every year saying, โkeep goingโ.
โEvery pre-season you have to believe itโll happen for you at some stage and that weโll get the breakthrough. Thankfully weโve done it a small bit this year, weโve made a bit of a breakthrough.
โBut I think thereโs going to be massive pressure on us now next year to back it up and to prove itโs not a flash in the pan.โ
โI think weโre after losing three or four quality players. So are we a better team? Probably not than this time last year because we had better players probably last year.
โI donโt know what it is. I think weโve just got so close and I think itโs a never say die attitude really. Down through the years, when Derry got that late goal, if that was a previous team we would have lost that game.
โAnd weโd have lost the Cork game as well. But we didnโt.โ
Thereโll be pressure to step up next Sunday as well. Mayo are seasoned campaigners, the first Connacht side to be contesting a sixth successive All-Ireland senior football semi-final.
Trying to perform in high-pressure circumstances is their goal now.
โThatโs down to yourself as a person,โ says Sweeney.
โOn a personal level I think you have to start visualising now playing there, getting on the ball. You have to see yourself putting the ball over the bar or else youโre not going to do it.
โWeโre massive underdogs which is fair enough considering who weโre playing. Weโve been watching them the last few years, theyโre a top four side.
โTheyโre competing in Connacht and in the All-Ireland series year in, year out. The task at hand is massive but look weโre looking forward to it.โ
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Gail from Corrie and Modric โ separated at birth.