TIPPERARY’S TRIUMPHANT 2025 campaign was full of make-or-break moments. For Willie Connors, his entire inter-county career has been defined by those moments and his responses to adversity.

From his senior debut in 2018 until this season, the 29-year-old Kiladangan stickman hadn’t started back-to-back championship games.

He missed two years with Tipp in the aftermath of a horrific double ankle fracture, but persistence seemed to be paying off with an extended National League run this spring.

Then, the league final against Cork derailed things all over again. In the 23rd minute, just after the Rebels netted a second goal, Connors was called ashore.

He didn’t feature at all against Limerick. He showed enough defiance as the fifth and final sub in the Cork rematch to move up the pecking order against Clare. Once he got the nod to play Waterford, Connors embarked upon five consecutive starts which led to All-Ireland glory.

“The league final was a bit of a disaster for us all, but mainly for myself,” he reflects before revealing the post-match chat with Liam Cahill.

We had a straight enough conversation alright. I watched the game back and so did he. At the time, I was obviously thick and upset and whatnot, but that’s part and parcel.

“I reviewed it. I actually felt that I was looking for the ball more and maybe other lads weren’t as much. That’s the way I took it.

“I had my words with him over it. We parked it there and then. I said, ‘Listen, I’ll stay going. There’s no issue. If I can get back on this team, I’ll offer something.’”

It was something of a blessing in disguise, in hindsight, that Darragh McCarthy’s Munster Championship red card at Páirc Uí Chaoimh prevented Tipp from unveiling any hint of a sweeper system.

On that occasion, it was held in reserve as a Plan B. By the time of July’s final, it had been elevated to Plan A.

“It was a great way to go into an All-Ireland final. There wasn’t too much expectation on us,” said Connors.

“We knew our game plan. I know lads spoke about it, even in the Munster game. We might have played it a small bit during that and they might have copped onto it and seen what we would’ve come up with.

I know you didn’t want to see him (McCarthy) get sent off before the game, but maybe it’s fortunate that it happened. We just knew the game plan from there, and we knew they hadn’t seen it.

“I know there was words said that Liam Cahill’s team doesn’t play a sweeper, but was it a sweeper or was it a plus one? I suppose they’re the same thing in a way.”

Connors feels that hurling is an obsession for him. Even when he sustained that ankle injury in the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League in 2022, he couldn’t sit still.

“While I was off the field, I was actually gyming with the cast on. I got into a bit of a mad habit. I was going down to the gym two or three times and trying to keep myself busy. Then I was trying to work through it as well, keeping the head busy.

Willie Connors winds up to strike the sliotar as Declan Dalton attempts a block. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

“Then, obviously, I heard a few doubters and people saying, ‘You’ll never play again’ and whatnot. I ignored them, but I used it in my own head.

“I just made it a goal to make sure I’d get back, even though it took me the ‘23 season to come back into Tipp in ‘24.

“I don’t really know how to explain what it did to me, but it made me look forward to coming back. It made me enjoy the game a lot more. If you have a bad day, or a bad training session, or a bad match, you just have to park it and move on again.”