David Power believes Tipperary football must embark on another ten-year project to recapture the heights of the past decade.
The Premier manager led his county to a historic Munster title in his first year in charge but he has found the backward steps since then tough to take.
It wasn't an old team that made that breakthrough in 2020, either, but they have been scattered across America and Australia, while others have been injured, retired, or opted out.
"It’s very, very tough to take," said Power ahead of their Munster SFC opener against Waterford on Sunday.
"2020 was my first season and I was hoping that we could grow and be challenging maybe in a higher division in the league and maybe challenging again for a Munster championship but unfortunately, look, we’re not in that position.
"It’s for various reasons. Lads have gone travelling, lads are working, there’s been retirements. Brian Fox, Philip Austin, they’ve all been savage leaders and to lose all them on top of the fellas that are not available to us at the minute, it’s very, very hard to take."
Since 2020, Tipperary have won one championship match, against this weekend's opponents, and yoyoed between Divisions 3 and 4 of the league.
Power points out that of the team that closed out their spring campaign with defeat to Westmeath, only three (Jimmy Feehan, Kevin Fahey, and Colm O’Shaughnessy) started that Munster triumph.
Two more (Alan Campbell and Bill Maher) will instead be lining out for New York against Leitrim on Saturday.
"No team, even Dublin, Kerry, could really sustain that because you’re missing serious players," reflected Power. "You just can’t really sustain those losses."
The underage success that peaked with the 2011 All-Ireland minor title has diminished since reaching All-Irelands at both minor and U-21 in 2015.
From contending alongside Cork and Kerry, Tipp lost five games in a row to Clare at minor and three in a row to Limerick at U-20 before a tentative bounce in recent performances.
"Ten years ago we were being very competitive at minor and at U-21 level. We haven’t been competitive at those grades in a long, long time at this stage," said Power.
"We were beating Cork and Kerry at minor level, beating them at U-21. We haven’t done that in a long time."
The biggest regret following that 2020 success was not being able to tour the trophy around schools amid Covid restrictions – a massive opportunity missed in the uphill battle to win the hearts and minds of the next generation.
"What happened in 2020, that was work that was probably started in '06/07 when they were under-14, under-15.
"It’s something that the Tipperary county board and Tipperary football board, we have to start putting a ten-year plan back in place again and see can we get the underage very competitive.
"And what I mean by that is that we’re back being competitive against Cork and Kerry because we’re simply not at that level."
He added: "There needs to be more work done, and this is no one’s fault. We had a golden generation of footballers but now we have to roll our sleeves back up again and get going again and start the work. It’ll take another ten years and that’s the reality of it.
"We’re bringing through lads at the minute that are not used to winning and that’s quite evident now when you see the league matches. There’s a lot of work to be done as a senior manager trying to build up the confidence of the players coming in."
When asked what needs to be included in any ten-year strategy, Power reflected on structural changes currently being made to address the lack of competitiveness in county championships.
He referenced better coaching for coaches as well as getting the best of those involved at U-13 level and into schools.
"Take the High School Clonmel; eight or nine football clubs are going into that school and there needs to be more work done at school level.
"You see Tyrone, they won the All-Ireland schools at A and B this year and look at the quality of people that are in those schools coaching.
"That’s what’s needed now in Tipperary as well, so you have your development squads and the second-level schools as well."
Tipperary’s last competitive win was against Waterford at this stage last year but with the dubious prize of a semi-final against All-Ireland champions Kerry, Power’s summer focus is giving the Tailteann Cup "a good rattle".
Their 2022 debut in that competition was brief, ending with a limp loss to Carlow. While he accepts motivation may have been lacking last year, seeing Westmeath’s celebrations and being rewarded with a team holiday has changed perceptions.
If he can get injured players back in the fold, such as Steven O’Brien and Conall Kennedy, Power reckons they can be competitive regardless of league form lines.
Sunday’s Munster tie against Waterford retains one primary importance: "Our confidence is down and that’s including management as well. Come Sunday, we need this win just to get the confidence going again."
As for any possibility of Tipp’s stars of 2020 returning from their travels?
"No. No. Unfortunately, not, no. Unless Co… No, I won’t say it!"
Covid-23?
"It worked out well in 2020!"
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