His Kilkenny team are preparing for an All-Ireland final, but Jackie Tyrrell is doing his best to recover from injury and be in contention for the biggest game of the year.
Speaking to Adrian Barry of Off The Ball, he talked about setting the target of coming back for the final and gearing his recovery towards that. At 33-years-old, however, he realises that if he doesn't make it, there's more to life.
"There's life beyond hurling [...] my sister is having a baby this week and things like that are great, they give you a reality check, but there are other moments like walking out in Croke Park and the rest of the team are revving up and training and you say to yourself 'I'd give anything to be out there'".
Tyrrell was very clear on one point, and that was that "I'll be doing absolutely everything within my power to get this foot right".
He also spoke about Kilkenny's display against Waterford that saw them claim their place in a 14th final under Brian Cody's leadership, but the main man didn't put too much tactical planning into the buildup. Rather, he focused on the individual battles around the field:
"It is about the talent, one of the main things Brian would have been focusing on was winning our own ball. You would have known that there would be situations where balls would be coming down and it might be two on one, but you have to win them. If you can't, then make it hard for Waterford".
While his team-mate Richie Hogan was critical of the Championship structure, Tyrrell stated that he didn't have a problem with the way things were at the moment: "I can see where Richie's coming from, you love the game and you just want to play games, but I'd have no problem with the current structures".
You can listen to the full interview below:
To win a training session with Opel GAA ambassador Jackie Tyrrell, or book your seat on the GAA GPA Opel All-Star tour to Houston, as Opel prepares to launch its latest competition, check out Opel.ie/OpelAllStars.
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