MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, there was something in that day in Thurles.
Tipperary were finishing up one of their worst seasons in recent memory. The 2024 league had been okay until they reached the semi-final in Portlaoise, when they burned though a list of freetakers and eventually lay down to take their beating against Clare.
On they went into the Munster championship and in the opening game, those in the Gaelic Grounds were struck by the paltry Tipperary crowd. Limerick buried them that day by 15 points.
A draw against Waterford was followed by an 18-point loss to Cork. In Thurles.
There was a defiant note to their three-point loss to Clare in the final, dead-rubber game.
But nobody could see what was to follow 14 months later, when Tipperary would come from a dark place to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Sitting back and reflecting at this stage, Jason Forde can give the impression of a man who might jump up in the middle of the night, convinced it was all a dream.
Set against the backdrop of 2024, it’s understandable.
“I suppose you question a lot the manner that we went out of it. We were well beaten in a couple of those games.
“At that level, inter-county level, small things can make a huge difference. If you’re off by a couple of percent on any day, you’ll get wiped. That’s kind of what happened. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t really tough to deal with.
“The manner that we went out of those games in, we really didn’t do ourselves justice or do the jersey justice. This year was just about going back and trying to right those wrongs.”
One factor that has been brought up here and there is the increased fitness. That this is advanced by players is interesting.
Especially in the light of how manager Liam Cahill and assistant Mikey Bevans have been accused in the past of having his teams cooked to a husk come the championship.
“I don’t really know where that kind of perception comes from. I think a couple of players kind of referenced it afterwards,” Forde counters.
“We obviously take the sports science side of it very seriously. You’re monitored with your GPS. You’re monitored with your wellness scores every morning.
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“If you’re not feeling something, you go to Paddy O’Brien our physio so everything is monitored across the board. Yeah, I honestly did think that we were fitter this year.”
A tribute to their work was how injury-free Tipperary were in 2025, with an ACL rupture suffered by Mikey Corcoran in the lead-in to the All-Ireland final the only serious setback.
“That’s important that you’re keeping your best players on the field as well,” added Forde.
“Just personally delighted for Angelo (Walsh) because he did come under the pump a lot last year after we got knocked out. I think he’s more than shown what he’s capable of doing this year.”
And then, they were getting pelters from their own crowd, which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing.
“I don’t think motivation was going to be an issue anyway,” says the Silvermines man.
“We got in the neck from a lot of people in Tipp. As you know yourself, we’re a mad hurling county and people don’t be shy about letting know what you haven’t done so well. There was huge motivation there.”
With the Liam MacCarthy Cup. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
They showed up for the league, made it to the final and were handed a ten-point loss by Cork in Supervalu Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
There was a familiar feel to things before it all got going with a draw against Limerick.
“I think we really laid down a statement and showed where the team was going,” says Forde.
“I think our tackle count was way up that day. It just kind of all built from there. If you take the year as a whole, bar maybe the Cork game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, we were on an upward trajectory all the way through the year. That was really pleasing to see.”
Some obstacles continued to reveal themselves. The fifteen point loss to Cork could have been crippling but they answered it with wins over Clare and Waterford to make it out of the group and get rid of that ugly statistic that they hadn’t hurled in Croke Park since 2019.
While they weren’t fancied for that final six years ago up against Kilkenny, that team still had a strong pedigree. Far stronger than the present one had up until a couple of months back.
“If you take the years previous to that, in 2014 we were in an All-Ireland final. In 2015 we made a semi-final, lost by a point. In 2016 you win a final. In 2017 you lose a semi-final by a point. So that team and the players that were on it, your Paudie Mahers and your Bonners and all these generational-type players.
“It had been six years since we’d been back, even in Croke Park. So, I think maybe that’s why it meant a lot to supporters. We hadn’t been back there for so long and then you’re written off so much and then you actually go and do it. I think there’s a bit of a shock factor in it as well.”
And how. In the build-up to the final against Cork, manager Liam Cahill was at pains to point out that he had never used a sweeper in his life. Behind closed doors, that was exactly the gambit they were working on.
Tipperary manager Liam Cahill with coach Michael Bevans. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Brian O’Mara operated in the loose position. The idea was to gum up the Cork system and deny them the oxygen of goals. Forde even had a first-half goal disallowed for a square ball offence that left many questioning the validity of the rule.
A six-point lead at the break for Cork, but all inside the Tipperary dressing room was calm, Forde tells us.
“There was no real panic. Lads just came in and got their bit of fuel and just sat down.
“A lot of talk for the first few minutes. I suppose management came back in then and made one or two little changes. Yeah, that was literally it.
“We were six points down, fair enough. We felt like we were hurling quite well. There was no real massive panic. Just one or two little positional changes and the thing just kind of clicked for us then.”
The second half was one of the most impressive halves ever played in an All-Ireland final.
And with the satisfaction of being champions, Forde will be returning in 2026.
“I’m sure we’ll be meeting with Liam in the next couple of weeks,” he says.
“You’d obviously be willing and hopefully able to go again. But I suppose that’s a conversation that we’ll have to have with Liam and the management team and see. Yeah, I’d definitely be raring to go for next year.
“Like when you win like that, I suppose the age profile of the team and you’ve just come off such a high. It would be hard to leave that behind.
“As I said, once the body’s good and you’re injury-free, why not stay at it as long as you can? Because when you do close the door on it, that’ll be it. You’ll be gone and you won’t be coming back.”
*****
* Jason Forde was speaking to the media for a ‘Safefood’ launch. Safefood and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) have teamed up to launch ‘Fuel your Game’, a new free healthy eating resource to support juvenile players, parents and coaches in choosing the right foods to support their Gaelic games activity and overall health and wellbeing.
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'We’re a mad hurling county and people don't be shy' - Tipp's turnaround to triumph
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, there was something in that day in Thurles.
Tipperary were finishing up one of their worst seasons in recent memory. The 2024 league had been okay until they reached the semi-final in Portlaoise, when they burned though a list of freetakers and eventually lay down to take their beating against Clare.
On they went into the Munster championship and in the opening game, those in the Gaelic Grounds were struck by the paltry Tipperary crowd. Limerick buried them that day by 15 points.
A draw against Waterford was followed by an 18-point loss to Cork. In Thurles.
There was a defiant note to their three-point loss to Clare in the final, dead-rubber game.
But nobody could see what was to follow 14 months later, when Tipperary would come from a dark place to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Sitting back and reflecting at this stage, Jason Forde can give the impression of a man who might jump up in the middle of the night, convinced it was all a dream.
Set against the backdrop of 2024, it’s understandable.
“I suppose you question a lot the manner that we went out of it. We were well beaten in a couple of those games.
“At that level, inter-county level, small things can make a huge difference. If you’re off by a couple of percent on any day, you’ll get wiped. That’s kind of what happened. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t really tough to deal with.
“The manner that we went out of those games in, we really didn’t do ourselves justice or do the jersey justice. This year was just about going back and trying to right those wrongs.”
One factor that has been brought up here and there is the increased fitness. That this is advanced by players is interesting.
Especially in the light of how manager Liam Cahill and assistant Mikey Bevans have been accused in the past of having his teams cooked to a husk come the championship.
“I don’t really know where that kind of perception comes from. I think a couple of players kind of referenced it afterwards,” Forde counters.
“If you’re not feeling something, you go to Paddy O’Brien our physio so everything is monitored across the board. Yeah, I honestly did think that we were fitter this year.”
A tribute to their work was how injury-free Tipperary were in 2025, with an ACL rupture suffered by Mikey Corcoran in the lead-in to the All-Ireland final the only serious setback.
“That’s important that you’re keeping your best players on the field as well,” added Forde.
“Just personally delighted for Angelo (Walsh) because he did come under the pump a lot last year after we got knocked out. I think he’s more than shown what he’s capable of doing this year.”
And then, they were getting pelters from their own crowd, which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing.
“I don’t think motivation was going to be an issue anyway,” says the Silvermines man.
“We got in the neck from a lot of people in Tipp. As you know yourself, we’re a mad hurling county and people don’t be shy about letting know what you haven’t done so well. There was huge motivation there.”
They showed up for the league, made it to the final and were handed a ten-point loss by Cork in Supervalu Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
There was a familiar feel to things before it all got going with a draw against Limerick.
“I think we really laid down a statement and showed where the team was going,” says Forde.
“I think our tackle count was way up that day. It just kind of all built from there. If you take the year as a whole, bar maybe the Cork game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, we were on an upward trajectory all the way through the year. That was really pleasing to see.”
Some obstacles continued to reveal themselves. The fifteen point loss to Cork could have been crippling but they answered it with wins over Clare and Waterford to make it out of the group and get rid of that ugly statistic that they hadn’t hurled in Croke Park since 2019.
While they weren’t fancied for that final six years ago up against Kilkenny, that team still had a strong pedigree. Far stronger than the present one had up until a couple of months back.
“If you take the years previous to that, in 2014 we were in an All-Ireland final. In 2015 we made a semi-final, lost by a point. In 2016 you win a final. In 2017 you lose a semi-final by a point. So that team and the players that were on it, your Paudie Mahers and your Bonners and all these generational-type players.
“It had been six years since we’d been back, even in Croke Park. So, I think maybe that’s why it meant a lot to supporters. We hadn’t been back there for so long and then you’re written off so much and then you actually go and do it. I think there’s a bit of a shock factor in it as well.”
And how. In the build-up to the final against Cork, manager Liam Cahill was at pains to point out that he had never used a sweeper in his life. Behind closed doors, that was exactly the gambit they were working on.
Brian O’Mara operated in the loose position. The idea was to gum up the Cork system and deny them the oxygen of goals. Forde even had a first-half goal disallowed for a square ball offence that left many questioning the validity of the rule.
A six-point lead at the break for Cork, but all inside the Tipperary dressing room was calm, Forde tells us.
“There was no real panic. Lads just came in and got their bit of fuel and just sat down.
“A lot of talk for the first few minutes. I suppose management came back in then and made one or two little changes. Yeah, that was literally it.
“We were six points down, fair enough. We felt like we were hurling quite well. There was no real massive panic. Just one or two little positional changes and the thing just kind of clicked for us then.”
The second half was one of the most impressive halves ever played in an All-Ireland final.
And with the satisfaction of being champions, Forde will be returning in 2026.
“I’m sure we’ll be meeting with Liam in the next couple of weeks,” he says.
“You’d obviously be willing and hopefully able to go again. But I suppose that’s a conversation that we’ll have to have with Liam and the management team and see. Yeah, I’d definitely be raring to go for next year.
“Like when you win like that, I suppose the age profile of the team and you’ve just come off such a high. It would be hard to leave that behind.
“As I said, once the body’s good and you’re injury-free, why not stay at it as long as you can? Because when you do close the door on it, that’ll be it. You’ll be gone and you won’t be coming back.”
*****
* Jason Forde was speaking to the media for a ‘Safefood’ launch. Safefood and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) have teamed up to launch ‘Fuel your Game’, a new free healthy eating resource to support juvenile players, parents and coaches in choosing the right foods to support their Gaelic games activity and overall health and wellbeing.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Champions reflections GAA Hurling Jason Forde MODEL T FORDE Tipp