2 days ago
Tipperary's dual foresight not being replicated at national level
Along the road to integration, Tipperary are paving the way.
This spring, the local camogie and LGFA boards united to produce a joint fixture calendar for 2025.
That first-of-its-kind feat has been emulated on the field as their camogie and women's football teams both reached Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-finals.
The level of foresight and collaboration that the Premier County has shown at a local level has not yet been matched nationally. This week, Tipp are feeling the brunt.
Sunday marks a prized double-header slot at Croke Park with Tipp camogie at 1.30pm and hurling at 4pm. Kilkenny stand between both sides and progression.
As Liam Cahill's men are heading down the stretch with an All-Ireland final at stake, the Blue and Gold footballers will be throwing in against Meath at 5.15pm in Navan.
On top of the wider fixture dissonance which created this clash, the Royals' dual cohort, who line out for their camogie side on Saturday, and TV schedules mean it can't be resolved.
For the Tipp footballers, who contested five of the first seven All-Ireland finals, it's their first time advancing to the knockout stages since the last of those in 1980. The support and television audience they deserve for such an achievement will be hit.
With avenues for rescheduling exhausted, manager Ed Burke has turned his attentions to getting matters right on the field.
For example, the later-than-usual throw-in time means a pre-match dinner is required, rather than a pre-match breakfast.
'It's unfortunate,' he says of the fixture clash. 'I suppose the LGFA have given us their reasons for that, and we've just got to focus on the game.
'Look, we'd love to have the extra support and, in turn, we'd love to be supporting the hurlers in Croke Park. But this is just the way it is, and we have to plough on.
'Hopefully, they can be in an All-Ireland final where we can support them, and we can be in an All-Ireland semi-final where they can support us.'
A frustrated Tipp player anonymously got in touch with local TD and former county board chairman, Michael Lowry, last week to raise the issue.
Another supporter was in contact to say: 'This is not just a clash of calendars - it's a failure in planning that actively damages the growth and visibility of ladies football in Tipperary and beyond.'
The game itself could prove a cracker, going by recent history. These two sides met in the 2019 intermediate final when Tipp emerged 2-16 to 1-14 victors.
But while Meath went on an incredible winning streak that delivered 2021 and '22 All-Ireland senior titles, Tipp were treading water through a series of relegation play-offs.
When they faced off at Páirc Tailteann last year, the Royals held on for a 2-15 to 2-12 success.
'We know Meath are a very, very good team,' says Burke. 'But we're going out there with full expectations to win the game. We have no fears.
'If we can put a performance together like we can do, we can beat any team. The key thing to overcome is that little bit of inconsistency.
'Because if we perform at the level where we can, we've got as high a calibre of players as any other county in Ireland. So we really think we can compete.'
A Tipp LGFA stalwart, Burke doubles up as minor manager, while he served for seven years as treasurer.
'We've got a big sponsor in Camida, but we're constantly trying to get a little bit more in here and there so we can keep pushing the boundaries.
'The panel have everything that we could possibly offer them in terms of on-field and off-field preparations.
'You're trying to get in a bit more so that you can supplement the players for their hard work and get expenses and more things like that for them. It is important.
'We've been team number nine to 12 in the country for the last couple of years, so it's now breaking into the top eight and seeing can we get a little bit higher.'
The Tipp camogie side have been team number three or four for the last while. A quarter-final win over Kilkenny would restore that status.
With six semi-final defeats in the last seven years, their benchmark of progress is getting into the top two on All-Ireland Sunday.
