Tipperary manager Michael Ryan heaped praise on All-Ireland hero Seamus Callanan after the full-forward rattled nine points from play as the Premier County claimed the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Callanan finished the game with 0-13 beside his name and was the difference as Tipp beat Kilkenny 2-29 to 2-20 at Croke Park.
“Nine point from play? That’s not too bad!” smiled the winning boss afterwards. “He’s certainly not going to get given out to.
“He’s a quality player and he was almost a one-man show 12 months ago when we lost the semi-final against Galway.
"He didn’t score three weeks ago against Galway and that just shows you how the game can ebb and flow.
“He made a huge contribution - nine points is outrageous, a savage contribution from full-forward. He epitomised the team today - they all worked so hard.”
Apart from Clare in 2013, Tipp and the Cats have been the only winners since 2005, when Cork claimed the glory, and Ryan reckoned that this victory will reverberate across the country.
Michael Ryan was delighted with the response to Kilkenny's goal https://t.co/KOtvito1mo
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) September 4, 2016
“This is a fantastic day for Tipperary hurling and I think we might have awoken other giants here that had been sleeping a little bit,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“I think every other county is going to take huge encouragement from what we achieved this year.
“Every single one of us hurling counties were chasing Kilkenny, those are the facts.
“I think we are after sending home a lot of teams that will set the 2017 championship alight.”
