Revamped Tipperary the choice

Looking at Tipperary, what they have done is that they have brought in strong players. Liam McGrath, although right wing forward is not his position, is a strong, tough player and with Declan Ryan and John Leahy also there this gives the team a powerful half-forward line.

It's strange that Eugene O'Neill is picked at full forward, but the way things have happened recently there may be a whole lot of changes before the throw-in and he could end up at right corner or right half forward. The trend is to keep the opposition guessing.

You're gearing yourself for, say, Declan Ryan and then he's not there. It takes a while to get around that.

McGrath's position is centre forward and I could see him moving there with Declan Ryan going to full forward and Michael Cleary coming out to the wing.

Tipperary will have evaluated Wexford as strong and aggressive and good at using that strength. Tipperary have dropped Kevin Tucker, Aidan Flanagan and Liam Cahill. You can't have light players against Wexford. Kilkenny found that out in the Leinster final and Len Gaynor will have realised as much.

In all their games, Wexford have played a certain brand of hurling. It's not free-flowing. The ball is blocked by players who rise it and run with it. This leads to shemozzles and individual aggression, and to counter it Tipperary will have to move the ball fast, try to keep it in open space and avoid groups of three and four contesting the ball.

The Gary Laffan situation is certainly a worry for Wexford. Last year I didn't think he played exceptionally well but this year he has scored goals against Offaly and gave a new dimension to the team when he moved out to centre forward. When he's that far out, he's less inclined to try to take his score and his distribution is good.

If he doesn't pass a fitness test, it will mean a lot of shuffling around for Wexford, which will be unsettling for players who know their positions fairly well, and Wexford don't have Clare's options in attack. Martin Storey will need to up his performance from the last day but he knows better than anyone that he was below par.

I thought the Leinster final was very, very physical but Kilkenny were in it until the last 10 minutes. For tomorrow, Tipperary have picked a team to compete physically, although centre-field is a worry; Conor Gleeson has just had the plaster taken off his hand while Tommy Dunne is a lovely hurler but maybe not suited to the physical challenge of Larry O'Gorman and Adrian Fenlon, who is beginning to blossom.

It remains trial and error for Tipp. They will be hoping the selection clicks as a team. If not, the likes of George Frend, Aidan Ryan, Kevin Tucker and Aidan Flanagan are on the bench and they're nice hurlers but light for a closed game and would find it difficult in one-to-one situations.

In contrast, Wexford have a settled team but I wonder how they might perform if the game is fast. Tipp would prefer a fast game but the grass in Croke Park is too high for hurling - it is being grown to cover patches left by concerts, but the GAA should cater for hurling.

In a speech after the Leinster final that at times made me cringe, Rod Guiney was too triumphalist. Teams should be modest in victory and gracious in defeat - everyone loses some time.

Tipperary will be more relaxed. They have 24 All-Ireland titles and nothing to fear against Wexford. Maybe I am giving them too much respect, but I think Tipperary will have the right attitude.

On that point I'm amazed at Ger Loughnane's intervention and accusations of Wexford being rough. Whatever else about the statement, it was calculated, and Liam Griffin fell into the trap of replying. If Ger has complaints about Wexford he should bring it to the attention of the authorities who can sit down and study it on video.

What I have seen this season is a number of incidents of flick-backs, throwing the hurley back with a flick at your opponent, who's not expecting it. Kilkenny's Canice Brennan got one last week and it's cynical and dirty.

It also happened in the first half of the Leinster final, along with other examples of unacceptable play. Kilkenny and Wexford tend to bring out the best and also the worst in each other - which means that we might have seen the best of Wexford in the Leinster final.

Last week I was wrong about Clare. I thought the long lay-off might have worked against them. Tomorrow's is an interesting game, as interesting as last week's and difficult to call.

Wexford will start the game flying and Tipp will meet them. What sorting out has to be done will be done in the first 10 minutes and the referee should lay down the law early and let the players know he's not taking any nonsense.

A problem for Wexford is that it's harder to win an All-Ireland in your second year. I'm not 100 per cent gone on the Tipp selection but they've brought in the big men and might just swing it. (In an interview with Sean Moran)