'We’ve moved on', says Tipperary captain Maher as Premier ignore hype and reset for Cork

The league is done and dusted, and for Tipperary, fully to attention now turns where there ups and downs across the spring in what was a very definitional and mixed bag, but around the corner, the focus has shifted quickly within the camp.

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Cork visit to Semple Stadium, who were humbled by the Premier, on that remarkable day last July, will bring a familiar intensity, and as always in Munster, there is little time to ease your way into it.

For Tipperary captain Ronan Maher, there is no sense of looking beyond what is directly in front of them. The All-Ireland success of last year has been parked, and the approach remains unchanged.

“I think this group is really competitive, and we’re always trying to approach the Munster Championship by putting ourselves in the best position possible to get out of it, and we’ll do that again this year.

“Our main focus will be getting out of Munster, but it would also be nice to get to a Munster final as well, so expectations are still very much the same, and there will be challenges along the way.

“We’ll try to overcome them as best we can as a group and try to improve every day we go out on the field.”

Tipperary’s league campaign came with its share of challenges. A shortened pre-season, a staggered return to training and a panel in transition with a crop of the brilliant U20 team who had their own success in 2025, all fed into a campaign that was never likely to be straightforward.

Maher believes, however, that it served its purpose.

“It was a really competitive league again, and I suppose we got a lot of action into some of the lads coming back, but I suppose we took losses to Cork and Limerick, which was disappointing, but we took our learnings from that.

“All in all, it was a really tough league, but lots of game time into the bodies, and we’ll move on now towards the Munster Championship.”

The exposure of younger players was a notable feature throughout the spring, and Maher sees that as a clear positive, with the rising tide of underage certainly doing its bit to raise all ships in the county.

“We’ve seen a good few of them throughout the league campaign as well, and it’s a massive boost for us here in Tipperary.

“I suppose it’s what we need at the moment, and with success at underage in the Harty Cup, you can see all those lads coming through again. The whole thing has been really good. So we just need to keep them coming through.”

For Maher himself, the league also marked a gradual return following surgery on a persistent groin injury.

While not yet at full tilt, having only played games against Waterford and Kilkenny, the Tipperary captain is satisfied with where he stands heading into the championship.

“Yeah, all good. I’m recovered now, just about getting back up to the pitch of it and getting plenty of training in, so I’m happy to be out on the field.

“So yeah, just get the time into the legs now and get sharp.”

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