Source: The42

IT WAS 168 days since Liam Sheedy had last taken his Tipperary team into action.

Saturday was a return to the scene of their 2020 exit, nudged aside in a thriller against Galway last November.

The Gaelic Grounds was a familiar setting in that sense but perhaps it was another previous game at the Limerick venue that Sheedy was paying closer attention to.

In September 2018, Sheedy moved into the Tipperary hotseat for a second time. A month before the county had won the All-Ireland U21 title at the stadium on the Ennis Road. His brother John was a selector on a team that achieved a victory largely unexpected given the beating Cork had dished out earlier in the summer, and all the sweeter for them due to that recovery mission.

The consensus that was that Sheedy didn’t need to parachute those young stars into his senior team, the All-Ireland title he lifted in 2019 vindicated that approach. 

But two seasons on, what is the best policy now?

Since August 2019 when they celebrated in Croke Park,  Tipperary have endured a stop-start schedule like the rest of the hurling world and gathering momentum has been awkward.

There was lift off at last for their 2021 campaign on Saturday, a hectic and compressed programme of games now awaits them.

Trying to gauge the significance of team selections for league openers is difficult, particularly when they occur after a lengthy lockdown and with teams only having minimal collective training done.

But it is salient to note the relentless nature of the 2021 season with the league feeding directly into the championship. Getting the nod to start against Limerick could be instructive given it is only two months until Tipperary are pressed into championship combat.

In that regard it was interesting to see Sheedy hand starting positions to three players from that 2018 U21 success while there was another five on the bench. In addition Bryan O’Mara began at wing-back, a product of the 2019 U20 triumph.

“They’re a year older, a year stronger,” remarked Liam Sheedy of Tipperary’s younger group.

“Cairbre (Ó Caireallain) has done a really good job in terms of their physical preparation over the last number of weeks. That’s a very pleasing aspect of the game. We feel we are assembling a good panel, a good strong bunch and we may see a few more guys next weekend.”

From the group involved in that win three years ago, some we have seen before at senior level and some are fresh faces. Jake Morris has been utilised regularly in attack, it was more revealing to watch Barry Hogan in goal and Brian McGrath at full-back, a trusted combination at underage level. McGrath began with the number five jersey on his back but soon retreated to the inside defensive line. 

He had a rocky start in trying to get a handle on Seamus Flanagan’s movement and accuracy. But after shipping two early points, he moved across the full-back at times onto other Limerick forwards and warmed to the task. Just after the first water break he anticipated a Barry Nash delivery and cut out the danger, set Tipperary on the attack and it culminated in the awarding of a free which Jason Forde nailed.

The last big hurling day that Hogan was a central character was last September’s Tipperary county senior final, his quick thinking saw him bomb down the puckout that paved the way for the stunning late goal that handed Kiladangan their first title. He looked safe and dependable here in his handling, even if his shot-stopping was never called into question.

McGrath’s Loughmore-Castleiney were on the receiving end of that 2020 county final heartbreak. Himself and Hogan were senior debutants on Saturday but between elite underage and club, they have accumulated a wealth of experience.

O’Mara made his league breakthrough in January last year against Limerick but was an unused substitute in the winter championship. The Holycross-Ballycahill youngster is touted as a brilliant prospect, he looked composed in this defensive outing.

Sheedy wheeled a few more options off the bench from the recent underage groups. Dillon Quirke, Cian Darcy and Mark Kehoe were all sent on in the second half. They have all tasted the senior scene before but their careers are in a common phase in trying to secure first-team spots.

Four more league outings beckon for Tipperary before the Munster semi-final against Clare or Waterford.

“No shortage of challenges on our side of the group anyway, there are loads of heavy hitters,” remarked Sheedy.

“We’ve Cork next week and Galway the following week, so that’s a great thing, it’s really good preparation.

“If you want to find out how good a guy is and how ready he is for championship well why not go out and play the likes of Limerick, Cork and Galway? After that we have Westmeath then and Waterford. So at the end of this league we’ll have a really good sense of how championship ready they are and that’s great for us.”

The older golden generation have not been dispensed with either, Noel McGrath and Padraic Maher both featuring as second-half substitutes against Limerick. Tipperary’s experienced core in the middle age bracket of Seamus Kennedy, Ronan Maher, Dan McCormack and Jason Forde largely carried the fight to illustrate their worth.

But the intrigue will lie in the coming weeks as to which younger players Sheedy places his trust in.

The raw materials are there from the All-Ireland winning underage teams.

Who can now make the senior step up?