Caoimhe Maher: Tipp won't surrender league crown easily

Tipperary's Caoimhe Maher has warned their rivals that they are not going to give up their league title easily as they prepare to start their defence against Dublin in less than a fortnight.

The Premier County won the Division 1A title last season – just Tipp’s third ever – with a one-point win over Galway, but by the time the All-Ireland semi-final came about, it was the Tribe County who were celebrating a win by the narrowest of margins.

That league title ended a 20-year wait, and they’ll be hoping they can end a 21-year wait for All-Ireland glory in 2025. That’s for later in the year though with the focus for now on retaining their league title.

"Absolutely," was Maher’s response to RTÉ Sport when asked did the league still hold significance for the group.

"This is going to be our first chance to get back in playing proper competition for the first time in a few months.

"We put down a long hard winter and because nobody has been playing any competition, nobody really knows much about each other at the moment.

"It’s the first opportunity to see other teams, figure those out, but then also to figure ourselves out to put ourselves in the best position for the league and throughout the summer as well."

For Maher, who has been representing her county since 2012, gaining significant silverware last season was just reward for the toil of so many, and she also hopes it’s the springboard for further success.

"It was really, really positive for us as a team and really important.

"We have an awful lot of people who have been putting in a hard shift over the last 10 years and it was their first national title and their first national medal.

"It was a really positive thing to get there, be there on the day, be a part of it and then coming