Former Limerick hurler Niall Moran believes Tipperary are returning to their "core values" as they seek to atone for last year's no-show in the Munster championship.
In the second league game of Liam Cahill's reign, Tipp claimed their first win over Kilkenny in UPMC Nowlan Park since 2008, Jason Forde racking up a whopping 1-15 in a six-point victory.
Speaking on Game On on RTÉ2fm, Moran was particularly impressed with Tipp's energy and attitude and suggested that the team were anxious to put things right after the miserable lost year of 2022.
"The huge positivity for Tipperary was that energy they brought. Even looking at the demeanour of Seamie Callanan, his first start in 12 months, he just looked so hungry.
"I can imagine if I was in that Tipperary dressing room, the narrative would be that we've taken a lot of grief over what happened last year. They took a little hit for the departure of Colm Bonnar.
"Liam Cahill, maybe three or four years after he should have gotten it, now has the gig.
"I get the sense that they've their teeth gritted and they're ready to really come with fire and brimstone come the championship.
"There was a sense in the last couple of years that Tipp were brittle and that was unheard of for a Tipperary team.
"I think they're gone back to their core values of that real tough Tipp hurling. For anyone who grew up in the 90s, Tipp were always goal-hungry and there's shades of that in their performances."
Meanwhile, Moran says Kilkenny are likely tweaking their game-plan in anticipation of the post-TJ Reid era.
After a workmanlike victory over Antrim on the opening weekend, Derek Lyng's side slumped to a rare home loss to their neighbours in Round 2.
While he insisted after the win over Antrim that he wasn't preoccupied with the debate surrounding Kilkenny's style of play, Lyng did acknowledge after Sunday's defeat that they were seeking to mix up their play and still trying to find the right balance.
Moran argued that Kilkenny needn't be too despondent at the way things are progressing and drew a parallel to John Kiely's first season as Limerick manager in 2017, when the team were struggling to adapt to a different style.
"It didn't always come off but they (Kilkenny) tried something. The criticism that was levelled last year in particular was that they had tried the short game for periods last year in the league and when it wasn't working, it was visible.
"The Kilkenny management didn't want it (for championship), they reverted to old school. Derek is trying to find the right fit for them.
"They were very porous down the middle. And defensively, I've never seen Kilkenny as open at the back.
"During the noughties, one of the defining features of Kilkenny was they protected the D at all costs. The D was wide open yesterday. That'll be a frustration.
"But look, bear in mind whenever a team is trying to find a new style of play, you're road-testing it in league matches.
"I know in Limerick in 2017, there were groans upon groans when they were trying that (short-passing) game, even in championship. And it took until the following year for it to work.
"But Derek is a smart guy and he's being brave. I actually thought in the second half that Kilkenny could go and steal the game. And that is what Kilkenny do best.
"He brought on the likes of John Donnelly, who was decent, David Blanchfield had a fine game, Conor Fogarty as well. They know what they have as well. I don't think they'll be too despondent.
"They're probably tweaking the game for the post-TJ era. That's maybe what they're looking at."
