Premier perfection is testament to Cahill's genius

LIAM CAHILL will wake up this morning as an All-Ireland winning manager.

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It's something no one can ever take away from him. All those doubters, those who wrote him off after last summer's Championship, now have to revisit their words.

For he proved every single one of his critics wrong throughout 2025 and especially yesterday afternoon.

The decisions he made were both brilliant and brave: his match-ups, his decision to go with a plus-one in defence; his decision to stick with plan A even when Cork had opened up a six-point lead at halftime.

Yet before we delve deeper into how Cahill and Tipperary won this game, we need to step back in time briefly, to the stick he received last summer after Tipp's Championship had ended without a win.

It was wrong because Liam has a proven track record having won All-Irelands at minor and Under 21 level prior to his impressive run taking Waterford to the senior All-Ireland final in 2020.

The man has pedigree. He is talented yet humble. He has confidence and a shrewd tactical brain and all those qualities were demonstrated throughout the 70 minutes of yesterday's final.

Tipp were pure class.

Nothing less.

Their players' work rate was insane. Their adherence to the gameplan proved a masterstroke.

Some have said you can never win an All-Ireland playing the plus one. Well, Tipp proved that theory wrong.

They clearly looked at Cork's semifinal demolition job on Dublin and decided they had to kill the space in front of the Rebels full-forward line.

They did so brilliantly. Bryan O'Mara was immense. And so was his management team.