See @Fat_Pox post above, won with Loughmore and Clonoulty.
Great point is right. If a lad doesn’t make it in Tipp by the age of 23 he is cast aside really. Recently KK have brought in older players. Tom Phelan, Kevin Blanchfield and Paddy Mullen who were all around 25+. Clare have persevered with Cathal Malone, Limerick likewise with Reidy to make them both very effective IC players.
Tommy Nolan is someone in Tipp I rate. Great minor but went off the rails a little after. Had a great county championship last year but was he seen as too old at 26/27 to cut it at IC?
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If you haven’t done it by 20 in Tipp you are kind of written off.
Tipp have always had prodigies going back to Billy Quinn, John Doyle, Jimmy Doyle, Babs, Gaynor, Roche, English, Fox, Leahy, Kelly, McGrath, Callanan and the Mahers. All them lads were to the manor born at 20 by the latest.
Now that this S&C nonsense has curbed the emergence of boy wonders its all gone to shit in the County.
Tis all now on young Murray to win us the AI in 29 as a 21 year old.
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Did Billy Quinn hurl much senior for Tipp?
No he had it all done by 19.
We have to change with the times, there’s some good 21 year olds who would previously have been county u21s now just tipping away with their clubs or in with the footballers.
You’d wonder is there any strategy behind the scenes to make sure them lads are developing physically year on year so they are ready at 22/23/24 if called upon.
Would Cormac Bonnar buck that trend, he looked about 35 when he nailed down the number 14 jersey?!
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The current manager came on the scene as a 19 year old, winning an all star in his first year. Although Declan, laid off a lot of scores for him that year.
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He was old enough yeah but his brother Conal was a bit of a prodigy alright. Won All Ireland Senior and U21 Medals in the same year back in '89.
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He started as a full back I think in the early 80’s before being dropped. Babs then brought him back. Similar arc to Fox.
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Weren’t they related to the Bonnars in Donegal?
What Babs did was incredible when you think about it.
We need Michael Lowry back as County Chairman too. He has Holycross on course for an All Ireland Club in the next decade and now he needs to turn his attention back to Tipp.
Their oul lad was certainly from Donegal but I’m not sure if they were.
I was sure i read somewhere they were related
A force of nature. He sorted the whole thing out and tapped into the Tipp diaspora.
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The could be, it’s not the most common surname.
What age was John Carroll when he burst onto the scene ?
Minor in 96.
Broke a few Wexford hearts in 2001 when he soloed through the heart of the defence and kicked it to the net. Saw him on Jones Rd before the Tipp v Wexford game in 2019. Hadn’t changed too much. The definition of a sound and jovial roaster I’d imagine.
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