TIPPERARY captain Ronan Maher hopes the ‘hard conversations’ that took place over the winter sowed seeds that can be harvested this summer.
Liam Cahill endured a woeful second season at the Premier helm, which saw his side eliminated from the race to advance from the Munster SHC with a game to spare.
But with Tipp now one win away from a first National League title in 17 years, the early signs in 2025 have been encouraging.
Maher said: “Towards the end of the Munster Championship last year, we were nearly ready to come back and target this year because we knew it wasn’t good enough.
“It’s a tough winter to take when you’re after being knocked out of Munster pretty quickly. Just the manner of it as well, I suppose.
“We all knew last year it wasn’t good enough, the performances on the days weren’t good enough, and I suppose that drives you on that bit more as well.
“The disappointment was there and the Tipp support are quick to let you know if they aren’t happy.
“You have all that in the back of your mind, but as players you have to be able to block out the outside noise.”
At a sold-out SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday, Maher will lead Tipperary out to face a Cork side who hit them for 4-30 last May in Thurles.
Stinging criticism was levelled at the Tipp players and management in the wake of the 18-point trouncing that ended their hopes of reaching the All-Ireland series.
The skipper admitted: “I suppose our own supporters can be tough critics and it was probably very understandable after last year.
“Not winning games in the Munster Championship is very frustrating for everybody, but it’s definitely something you have to learn and it’s a skill as a player to block that out.”
Asked what exactly went wrong in 2024, Maher said: “I suppose there are several reasons. We’d probably have to look at ourselves as players, as a group. Were we as close? Maybe not, I don’t know.
“But there are definitely things that we had to pick up on through the winter.
“There were hard conversations with everybody and everybody took their learnings from it. Individuals probably had to look at each other and players as a group had to look at each other.”
A four-point loss away to Limerick aside, Tipperary were flawless as they topped Division 1A.
As newcomers like Darragh McCarthy slotted in with ease, their impressive run of form included a win over this weekend’s opponents in Thurles six weeks ago.
Now in his 12th season on the Tipp panel, Maher continued: “Last year is done, we’re only looking forward now and I think after a good league campaign so far, it gives us good confidence and good belief there going forward.
“Listen, I’m well aware the Munster Championship is going to be very, very hard as well, so you have to keep yourself grounded and it’s really important that we keep a good consistency going forward.
“The league final is another opportunity for us to go out and try and get another win. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”
Just a fortnight separates the league showpiece from Tipp’s clash with Limerick on the opening weekend of the Championship. Still, Maher insists they will hold nothing back against the Rebels.
The 29-year-old centre-back said: “When there’s silverware there in a final, it’s there to be won. I don’t believe there are too many games or it’s too close to the Championship.
“You learn the most out of playing high-level games. The Munster Championship is brutal and if you’re not on top of your game, you’ll end up out of the Championship fairly quickly. So I can only look at it as a positive being involved in all these games.
“It’s great for us as a group of players because we’re new together obviously and especially for the younger lads as well. Going down to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a league final will be really exciting. It’ll be a sold-out stadium so it’ll be a great experience for everybody involved.”
