I would have some question marks over Collins and on his decision-making particularly, but I think the plan that they are trying to execute is good and they have absolutely dominated on puckouts in the past two games.
Because they have the raw acceleration of Fitzgibbon & Barrett, they always have the option of just hitting it wide if there’s a one-on-one footrace and, if the timing is right, they’ll probably win that. If teams defend outside them, they have shown they can launch it down the middle and they have won the breaks there too (again Barrett in particular has been immense). That’s probably the area teams will try and focus on but, as of now, the setup is working.
Quick puckouts were always their forte under previous managements but didn’t really have that long option to go along with it. If their full-back line were slightly better at working it out, they’d be almost impossible to stop. From the outside, I’d probably take that risk, drop a slight bit deeper to give yourself an advantage on the breaks and see if they can work it from corner-back out.
They did have a lot of difficulties in terms of executing the puckouts the first couple of days but the re-jigged team seems to have given Collins more options.
There hasn’t been a truly great Tipp v Cork game in my lifetime anyway. 1987 and 1991 were supposed to be all-time classics but before my time.
The 2017 game when Cork beat reigning champions Tipp probably stands out in the modern era. Tipp had toyed with them the previous year, a real nadir for Cork hurling. So to see them spring a surprise the following year was a real turn of events. Kingston threw Coleman, Fitzgibbon, Meade and his own son Shane in and it transformed Cork to the extent that they won 2 Munsters in succession. Outside of that then the Cork smash and grab in 2010 was entertaining but ultimately fairly meaningless in the bigger picture. The 2005-06 Munster Finals were decent but devalued by 8 teams advancing to the All-Ireland quarter-finals those seasons anyway. The 2004 qualifier game was tense but far from a classic. Tipp’s bouts with Clare (90’s) and Kilkenny (2009-2016) have probably been their defining rivalries in recent decades. Kilkenny (2003-06) would be of a similar ilk to Cork.