I watched a good few auld games back over The Covid. I expected from a Tipp perspective that Nicky English would be the man, the elusive Marquee Forward. He was good and all, but Pat Fox was the star of the games I watched.
Leahy was even better than I had realised too.
Weren’t they great days all the same.
The covid times that is, not the glorious Tipp revival under Babs.
I’m not sure I’ll ever have the time to watch a league group game from 1991 back again.
The thing is English was seemingly - I was barely alive - phenomenal in the eighties when Tipp were a mixture of shite and unlucky until Babs came in. He was brilliant from 87-89 which I recall and quickly became my favourite sportsperson in the world (quickly joined by Ronnie Whelan ). He didn’t win an All Star after 89 but had six bagged at that stage. Considering he didn’t play organised hurling I think until he was a teenager, his rise was something else. An all time great.
Leahy in full flow was magical.
Ya I’d say the Tipp games I watched were mostly during the Babs revival years, hardly any before that - I got the sense even from the commentary that I had missed some of English’s best days prior to that. He seemed to bedivilled with injuries later into his career.
I think fox originally started as a corner back
Leahy has to be there somewhere, he was Box office
A force of nature, there was a sequence of games where Keating made the switch to drop him back out the field and he ran the show.
He’d have been brilliant - with the proper coaching, sports psychologists, etc. - in the modern era even though he was a total maverick.
It’s always nagging at me thinking of best 15 I’ve seen that Paul Kelly should be included.
For a short period he was genuinely unrale. Scored unbelievable points.
He’s a daft cunt but was a savage hurler when interested
My understanding was he had some significant mental health issues and it hugely impacted on his career
His performance in Munster final 05 was something else. Hit some serious scores from ‘downtown’
He was the hurler back then that Paudie Maher was early doors.
Excellent fielder 
Scores from Distance
Great passer
Had pace
He was having a nightmare in that '05 Munster Final early doors too and then turned it around to score 7 points from play at midfield and end up MOTM.
He was rumoured to be transferring to Borrisileigh back around 2004 but then went to OLG in Kilkenny for a few years and was meant to be excellent for them.
Broke his leg then or something and was waterboy in 2010.
I’d have had Callanan over Lar any day.
Did he fall out with the club?
Lovely little project. I saw a lot of the 91 team on video but I’ll exclude them as I didn’t see them live and I only saw them at their best. I’ll pick it up from 95
I left out Noel McGrath but I’d honestly no where to put him. Kinda judging Philip Maher on potential. He was excellent in 01 but got injured soon after and was never the same again.
You wouldn’t fancy coming up against that forward line.
Leahy could just take over a game. Mention the 91 Munster final replay to my dad at your peril, cos you’d get a fawning lecture about him
Best I’ve seen….
Cummins
Cahill
Curran
Barrett
B Maher
R Maher
P Maher
T Dunne
Leahy
Lar
Declan Ryan
M Cleary
Eoin Kelly
Seamie
Noel McGrath
Fucking tough picking that….
Alternatively,
Cummins
Mick Church
Philip Maher
Paul Delany
Eamon Corcoran
C O’Mahony
Paul Kelly
Colm Bonnar
Shane McGrath
Bubbles
Bonnar
John McGrath
Pat Fox
Nicky English
John O’Brien
I’d have Callanan over Eoin Kelly too.