LIAM CAHILL HAS leapt to the defence of his players from “nameless” online critics.

Tipperary’s All-Ireland defence officially wound down with a five-goal defeat in Limerick, which leaves them without a championship win for the fourth time since the round-robin system was inaugurated in 2018.

Post-match, Cahill was keen to raise the topic of “so-called” fans slating his team.

“We all have to be really mindful that these players are amateur players,” he said.

“They’re getting a fair bit of criticism by a lot of platforms, especially nameless ones which are easy to hide behind.

‘Premier this and Tipperary that’

“Even some nameless platforms that use the Tipperary logo and use titles like ‘Premier’ this and ‘Tipperary’ that. Really, they’re not Tipperary people. They’re a joke, actually.

“I’m really disappointed that our so-called own would revert to that kind of scrutiny of players that put their hand up to play for Tipperary.

“It just creates a narrative and creates that extra little bit of pressure on us all.

“I’d really love to know these people behind these faceless accounts. Have they child welfare courses done? Garda vetting done? Are they training under-10s and under-8s in their own clubs? Are they even club members? They’re probably not.

“I’m not going to be able to stop them saying what they say, but I just ask them to be mindful, especially of their players.

“I don’t care what they say or write about me, but just be easy on them boys because they are our players and we need to look after them.”

Cahill addressed media questions for 17 minutes, with a brief interruption as a series of announcements over the Gaelic Grounds loudspeaker drowned out his answers.

He began with a personal tribute to Tipperary trailblazer Liz Howard, who passed away on Thursday, describing her as “a very glamorous, courteous, supportive woman, and a straight shooter as well, which is why we got on so well”.

Cahill later defended the strength of their All-Ireland title last year.

“Some people have come for this group, which is terribly unfair because All-Ireland medals are hard won.

“I’ve said this to the players several times, All-Ireland medals don’t come in lucky bags. There are some pundits, analysts, and former players out there that would hope that they did come in lucky bags, but they don’t.

Admiration 

“Whoever will win the All-Ireland in 2026 will have earned it, just like Tipperary earned it in 2025, and Clare the year before, and that’s just the way it is.

“What comes with trying to retain it is huge and that’s why I have huge admiration for Limerick and the great Kilkenny team before that. It’s a huge feat to try and go back-to-back.”

Cahill drew on experience for their dead-rubber finale. He drafted in Noel McGrath and Séamus Kennedy, while also handing a first start to Keith Ryan among five changes.

Cahill later gave championship debuts to Paddy McCormack and Jamie Ormond off the bench.

“I was told we got a little bit of criticism over the team we named. Why didn’t we go with a full youthful team?” he said.

“Had we loaded that team with more under-20s, it could leave scars that’d be there for a while. It’s so competitive and so ferocious out there, it takes time.”

Looking ahead to the off-season, Cahill said: “There’ll be plenty of reviews.

“The county board will do their job. They’re really supportive of all teams in Tipperary and it’ll be their duty of care to get in behind it.

“I’ll have some uncomfortable meetings with them. They’ll ask the questions that they’re entitled to ask and we’ll see what answers we can come up with and go from there and hopefully improve things. That’s the plan.”