Seamus Callanan has hailed the impact of last year's U21 All-Ireland winners on the Tipperary squad but warned that the Premier County are still "far back in the pack" when it comes to challenging for Liam MacCarthy.
Tipp were among the pre-Championship favourites last season but failed to progress to the knock-out stages after two draws and two defeats in Munster - Liam Sheedy succeeding Michael Ryan for a second spell as manager in the aftermath.
Last Sunday against Clare, Sheedy started midfielder Robert Byrne and forward Jake Morris from the XV who defeated Cork in the U21 decider, while Mark Kehoe, Killian O'Dwyer and Cian Darcy all came off the bench.
"The U21 success last year was huge," recently appointed captain Callanan told RTÉ Sport.
"After a year where we didn't get to where we wanted to at senior level, the 21s gave it a really good push and a positive end to the year.
"There are a lot of them inside. We have a large group of players that are coming towards their late 20s and then we have the young lads coming and pushing it on.
"Liam is giving lads a chance so that keeps us all on our toes. It should be a good year.
"There is a huge hunger there. It doesn't matter if you've only been there one year or 10 years you still want to be dining at the top table.
"You want to be there in August. Croke Park is the place that you ultimately want to play but that's a long way away from where we are at now."
Callanan scored 2-07 as Tipp made a winning start to the second Sheedy era with victory over the 14-man Banner last week. They have been training hard since mid November.
"We wanted to hit the ground running," admitted the full-forward. "A new management coming in again, they have their own ideas on it.
"We were out so early in the year last year, we were all just hungry to get back in and get a bit of work done again. To move on, prepare and look forward.
"Clare beat us by 10 points in the Munster League so we wanted to prove a point in the first round of the League.
"But we know it's the early stages and different teams are at different levels of their preparation. It's all building blocks towards Championship.
"We're far back in the hunting pack now so we're just trying to get back to the top six really, and see what happens after that.
"The League will be great preparation for that."
The next stage of that preparation comes at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday as Tipp visit Limerick for a clash that will be live on RTÉ2.
"We played Limerick earlier on in the year but it was still probably holiday mode for them," said Callanan, who celebrated Championship glory himself in 2010 and 2016.
"I'm sure it'll be a different prospect.Limerick is always a very difficult place to go.
"We're looking forward to the challenge of pitting ourselves against the All-Ireland champions."
