Tipperary hurler, Gearoid O'Connor.
By John Harrington
The Tipperary hurlers get their 2024 season up and running on Sunday when they face Waterford in the first round of the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League.
What can we expect from the Premier County this year? Even their own supporters aren’t entirely sure what the answer to that question is.
The optimists will hope that if they can improve by the same margin in 2024 that they did in 2023 they’ll be genuine contenders.
The pessimists will say they simply don’t have the same quality in the panel that they did when winning the 2019 All-Ireland title, so Liam Cahill will find it difficult to wring any more from his charges.
If they are to burst from the pack and really challenge Limerick this year then it’s time for the generation of players that won an All-Ireland U-21 Hurling Final in 2018 and an U-20 Final in 2019 to fully realise their potential as senior hurlers.
Gearoid O’Connor will be one of those charged with that responsibility, and is well aware that the time has come for him and his peers to lead the charge.
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” says the 24-year-old. “It's been a few years since we won our U-20 All-Ireland Final and the year before that Tipp won the U-21 Final. That group of lads are coming in now at the age of 24 or 25 where we'd want to shove on and start making that breakthrough.
“Last year there were plenty of ups and downs. We went through the League pretty well and had a very good start to the Munster championship and I suppose we hit a bit of a lull then and just found it hard to try to get out of it.
“We've reflected on last year and we're just trying to come back strong this year and mend those problems. We're just hoping to do the best we can and try to bring Tipperary hurling back to the promised land again.
“Last year was great in the way a lot of lads got a bit of championship experience and that will stand to a lot of us now for this season. We'll just work hard now and try to do our best.
“You have to have some bit of self-belief. To be fair, I know the public mightn't have backed us too much last year, but within the group I think we have a great belief that if we put our mind to it we can go places.
“It's all down to believing in yourself at the end of the day. We want to keep the Tipperary public happy as much as we possibly can.”
Gearoid O'Connor of Tipperary in action against Jack Clancy of Offaly during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Preliminary Quarter Final match between Offaly and Tipperary at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile.
2023 was a breakthrough season for the Moyne-Templetouhy man. He scored 36 points in the Allianz Hurling League and followed that up with a haul of 1-20 in the championship.
He proved himself to be a very reliable free-taker and the archetypal modern-day half-forward thanks to his mixture of athleticism and skill.
“Playing in that middle third, some people would call it a war zone,” he says.
“You're up and down the field the whole day, you're normally gassed out after about 60 minutes and that's when they bring in the fresh legs to try to finish out the game.
“That's the way the game is gone, you have to try to empty the tank as much as you can. Playing in that position, you're probably clocking close to 10k a game and you need to be versatile.
“You need to be able to be an athlete and also be able to hurl and have the skills of an inside forward and also be able to tackle like a defender. I suppose as a position it has evolved with the new style of hurling most teams now play.”
It’s taken a little longer for O’Connor to establish himself as a first choice player for Tipperary than some of his fellow graduates from the 2019 All-Ireland U-20 winning team.
Standing at 6’ 4’’ in height, he’s an imposing figure, but his body type meant it was always going to take some time and a lot of work in the gym to put some muscle on his frame.
“Yeah, I suppose you'd be working with nutritionists and trying to take on as much food as you can,” he says.
“You're also working with S&C coaches to try to get a good base of strength and conditioning into you.
“I suppose it does take time. When you come into a county set-up it does really open your eyes. When you go in and see the likes of Ronan Maher and Seamie Callanan who are men and you're only a little boy, it does take a year or two to try to build yourself up.
“The way the game is going, a lot of counties are putting a big emphasis on S&C and trying to be physically ready for championship. That's just the way the game has gone now.”
University of Limerick hurler Gearóid O'Connor poses for a portrait with the Fitzgibbon Cup before the draw for the Electric Ireland GAA Higher Education Championships at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
With Seamus Callanan now retired, there will be a greater onus than ever on O’Connor to step up to the plate and become the sort of player that Tipperary can build their attack around.
With his size, skill, and scoring ability he bears more than a passing resemblance to Callanan, and made a point of learning all he could from the Drom-Inch man during their time together on the panel.
“I was nine or ten years of age when I was coming to Croke Park first and you're watching the likes of Seamie Callanan and Noel McGrath and these sort of lads winning All-Ireland Finals up here,” says O’Connor.
“Then when you get a chance to join the panel yourself and see how they train, it really does open your eyes. The two of them along with Eoin Kelly are up there arguably as three of the top Tipperary hurlers of all time.
“So just being involved with them and learning from them has been great for me. Even just taking a step back and looking at how they go about their stuff in training and games, you learn lots from them.”
Sunday, April 28th will be circled in red on the calendar of every member of the Tipperary hurling panel.
That’s when they play reigning All-Ireland champions Limerick in their first match of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship.
Starting with Sunday’s game against Waterford, everything they do in the coming months will be geared towards ensuring they’re in the best fettle possible for that showdown.
“Yeah, a lovely, easy start,” says O’Connor wryly. “The game last year was a very entertaining game.
“It was end to end and we were lucky for a finish that John McGrath slotted over a free to draw the game. We're looking forward to taking on Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds.
“We're under no illusions it'll be a great battle down there and a great match for a neutral to watch.
“The way that the championship went last year, going down to Round 5, if results went a certain way Limerick could have been knocked down. But things didn't go to plan from our point of view and Limerick ended up in the final then and kicked on from there.
“To be honest, there's no easy route in Munster, every game is tough. Waterford will be back in Walsh Park so will have their home venue back and it won't be easy going down there. There's no real easy venue in that championship and every team is on the same par to an extent.
“I know Limerick are probably the top of the table in everything, but other than that I'd say every other team would feel they're on the same level and they just want to try to get out of Munster and get into that All-Ireland series.
“When you get in there then the season could take on a life of its own.”
O’Connor will be combining county and college duties in the coming weeks with UL gunning for a third Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup title in a row.
“We were blessed the last couple of years with the team that we had,” says O’Connor, who was very much a key figure in those 2022 and 2023 Fitzgibbon Cup successes.
“In fairness, this year's panel is completely different to last year. A lot of lads off that team are gone now. There's a new crop of players in there who won a Freshers in 2022 so they're coming with a point to prove.
“We know that the other colleges have an ego to want to take us down but we'll just keep our heads down and work hard.”