The first thing to note about Tipperary’s young guns is that they aren’t all that especially young. Of the players who made their first championship start against Waterford last Sunday, James Quigley is 25, Dillon Quirke is 24, Craig Morgan is 23 and Conor Bowe is the kid of the bunch at 22. Nobody is going to be calling them the Bonnar Babes.
The contrast with the previous generation of underage All-Ireland winners who came through to be Tipperary seniors couldn’t be starker. Pádraic, Brendan and Bonner Maher were all 20 when they made their championship debuts. Noel McGrath was younger still, just 18 when he lined up against Cork in the first round of Munster in 2009. No wonder he looked so fresh and elusive against Waterford last week – he won’t turn 32 until the week before Christmas.
Sometimes life is pu …
- April 24, 2022
