Stark evidence of the gap between rich and poor in football. All-Ireland champions Kerry have hardly had an ideal build-up to the championship what with relegation and injury, but they should still sleepwalk this. Tipperary have been competitive against Kerry in recent years but the ravages of retirement and injury have stripped back the county's potential.
Derry Foley, John Costello and John Owens have all departed. The county's one football All Star is injured for the summer and a host of desirable talents are contracted exclusively to the hurlers.
It is rumoured that Brendan Cummins and Paul Ormonde are considering turning out for the juniors on the undercard tomorrow - which would indeed be a frustrating sight for the home team. Tipp have slipped behind Limerick in the Munster pecking order. Few will realise what an achievement a competitive performance would be.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)