Liam Sheedy's enthusiasm hasn't waned as he returns as Tipperary hurling manager
"My job is try and find a team that Tipperary can follow in 2019."
Thursday 13 December 2018 15:10, UK
Liam Sheedy hasn't lost the hunger for intercounty management since his last stint as Tipperary boss.
Eight years have passed since the Portroe man guided Tipp to hurling's summit, as they famously stopped Kilkenny's bid for a historic five in a row.
After walking away due to work commitments following that final triumph, Sheedy is enthusiastic ahead of his return.
"I really enjoyed my time on the sideline," he reflected. "I got a great buzz out of being involved with a top class team from my own county. Getting the chance to be on the sideline with the blue and gold is a special time.
"I'm chugging on in years. You probably do get to a stage, 'will you ever be able to do it again?' I probably left a bit prematurely the last time - I made some career decisions that, to be fair, have worked out very well for me.
"I thought long and hard about it. It was niggling at me. I had a chat to a lot of people I take advice from, had a chat at home, and there was no roadblocks put up. So I said, 'here goes'.
"No different to the GAA slogan, 'nothing beats being there', I don't think anything beats being involved with the team."
Given his previous success in the role, there is an expectation that he can bring Liam MacCarthy back to the 'Home of Hurling' once again, but Sheedy isn't fazed: "I don't feel any pressure. Not an ounce of it. I'm free as a bird.
"I'm going in, working with a new team. It's 10 years on, a new group of players. I'm going to give it 100 per cent to get the team to play to its potential. Wherever that takes us, it takes us. But I'm excited about it. It's an absolute honour and a privilege to manage your own county.
"I love being in around good players. I love being in a set-up that is starting to come together as we go on a journey. Who knows where it will take us? Wherever it takes us, it won't be for want of trying."
The challenge is to marry youth and experience, with the 2018 U21 All-Ireland winning stars coming into the squad.
"There is a good young bunch coming through," commented Sheedy. "Probably what impressed people most of the Tipperary U21 team was the spirit. They were soundly beaten in the Munster final by 13 points but their heart and determination and spirit - a free spirit is something Tipperary always try to tap in to and that's what I will be trying to tap in to."
Amid long-term injuries to Michael Cahill, Billy McCarthy, Conor Hammersley and Sean Curran, Sheedy knows that the elder statesmen of the squad still have an integral role to play.
"Seamus Callanan was dogged with injury all last year, Brendan Maher is coming back from injury, Padraic Maher has had a massive club campaign over the years, Noel McGrath has always been in Loughmore playing right up until November and December.
"These guys have lots to offer. The challenge is mine and the challenge is that how do we ensure that we get these boys to the peak of their powers come the middle of summer. These guys are fresh and hungry and they are going out to battle and they are injury free then they will be able to compete.
"The challenge for me now is to try and get that group to gel, you have the up-and-comers, you have got the experienced guys and the guys in the middle. If they gel together they should be well competitive in 2019."
However, Sheedy knows that the hurling landscape is far different to the Tipp-Kilkenny duopoly he left behind in 2010.
"The stats don't lie," he said. "Tipperary failed to win a match in the Munster championship last year and found themselves out.
"You see the way the three teams from Munster represented themselves in the All-Ireland semi-final stages. One of them got their hands on it but the other two were probably saying we were so close. That is the arena you find yourself in. The bottom line is Tipperary right now are outside the top six. If I look at my short-term goal it is how can we catapult ourselves into the top six and look to get into the quarter-final stage."
With experience of raising Tipp from the doldrums, Sheedy is under no illusion as to what it takes.
"I have a job to try and win back the Tipperary public who probably haven't been travelling in numbers to follow this team. My job is to try and find a team that Tipperary can follow in 2019. I will leave no stone unturned to try and make that happen."
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