Tipp can rectify their consistency problems

If everything goes to Tipperary's plan they should win, but it won't be easy at the perfect venue for the Munster final, writes NICKY ENGLISH

THIS IS a special Munster hurling final for a lot of reasons and I think as a game it should live up to the occasion. Both teams play a pretty cavalier type of hurling, and John Mullane should certainly get the Semple Stadium crowd going soon enough.

Tipperary and Waterford have to be the two best teams in Munster at the moment. Cork are coming back again, but these are certainly the best teams of the past two years. The key difference is the two teams are at different points in their cycle. Tipp just have the one Munster medal from last year, not a whole lot more, but they have more players at the start of their careers and overall, are on a more upward cycle.

Waterford have won more Munster medals, going back to the win over Tipperary in 2002, and would also have the better record against Tipp in recent years. The only problem is they’re further down the road, with more players coming to the end of their careers.

All this makes for a very interesting game. Tipperary would be justifiable favourites, but wouldn’t be clear favourites. It’s not easy to assess the form of both teams, for several reasons.

Waterford are weakened by injuries, with Ken McGrath and Gary Hurney definitely out and Stephen Molumphy not at full fitness. They haven’t the strength in depth of Tipperary either, which escalates the significance of those injuries. I’m also not convinced the scars of last year’s All-Ireland defeat are fully healed yet. The first day against Limerick they were quite poor.

Plus they’ve also been very reliant, over-dependent, on Mullane to score up front. He is in the form of his life, consistent, no doubt about that. But they’ll need more than just him firing to beat Tipperary. There is potential there, obviously. Eoin Kelly could hit top form any day. It’s only two years since Dan Shanahan was hurler of the year but it’s not as realistic for him to turn it back on. That’s where Molumphy comes in, Séamus Prendergast as well. But their defence has done well enough. Noel Connors has been very impressive at corner back, Eoin Murphy and Brick Walsh too.

Tipperary’s big problem this year has been consistency. They’ve mixed the very good with the very bad, against both Cork and Clare. They’ve yet to hit the consistency of last year. They’ve played some better hurling, but only in patches. It looked like they were going to hammer Cork early on, and same with Clare, but in the end were lucky enough to come through. I know that can be very frustrating for the manager, but the only thing Liam Sheedy can hope for is they improve at least a little.

I’d put it down to a few things. Take Shane McGrath and Conor O’Mahony, two of their most consistent players from last year. Both were replaced the last day. I think they’re still a little debilitated from the mumps they had earlier in the year. They don’t seem to have the same energy levels, yet. It’s the same thing with Kilkenny’s Cha Fitzpatrick. I’d assume they’ll have come on again over the last few weeks, unless they’ve come back too soon.

The second thing is Tipp have introduced several new players this year, like Noel McGrath and Pádraic Maher and Paddy Stapleton. They have been mostly outstanding but are still finding their feet, and I’d expect them to take on more responsibility this time as well.

The third thing is their half-forward line, which in ways has been the barometer of their inconsistency. Against the wind, or under pressure, they seem to have a diminished return, and that’s a key problem. Again I think they can improve there, win more primary possession in the half-forward line.

Eoin Kelly, as well, has limited training done this year, and I expect he will come on as well. He can come closer to his best. If all that comes together tomorrow then they should get through.

Waterford do play a lot on emotion and the big occasion. Davy Fitzgerald will be happy enough, especially as everyone thinks Tipp will win. But the recent history between the teams suggests otherwise. Since Waterford won in 2002, when Tipp were also big favourites, Tipp have only beaten them once, in 2006, so that makes it 4-1 to Waterford.

It’s fitting, though, that the game is in Thurles. I actually believe every Munster hurling final should be there. That’s nothing to do with a Tipp bias, and if anything, Tipp have lost a lot more finals there than they’ve won. At least in my time.

They lost 1973. Lost 1984. Drew 1987. Lost 1990. Won in 1991. Lost in 2000. So that tells you something about the record there. All the pressure really is on Tipp. But even from a neutral point of view, and tradition, Thurles is a fantastic venue, and occasion. It takes over the whole town, no matter who is playing. It should be a very special occasion.

If everything goes to Tipperary’s plan they should win, but it won’t be easy. They’ll still have some problems with inconsistency. That won’t just disappear. But they’ll need to improve on that, or else Waterford will be very dangerous. Tipp certainly can’t afford to give them the same chance they gave Cork and Clare.

The other factor in this is Tipp want to make amends for the loss in the All-Ireland semi-final last year. They felt they were upset that day. They’ve been looking forward to this chance ever since.

There are also two huge qualifiers this evening. Clare are always very hard to beat at Cusack Park. And Mike McNamara will love a challenge like Galway. Bring the big dog into Ennis, and send them home a small dog. But I think Galway will come through, and they will be mightily relieved if they do.

Limerick against Wexford has a lot riding on it too, because if Galway do beat Clare, the winners here play Laois. Again I think home advantage is a huge thing, only this time it should see Wexford through. That’s always been a big factor for Wexford. I expected them to beat Dublin, and I think they’ll get through this time, whereas Limerick were more hopeful of coming through the Munster route.