BLUE KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Hogan sees similarities between Cahill's Tipp crop & famous Babs' babes side

- BY GARRY DOYLE

THAT summer in '87, when he was just out of Garda training college, he had a few quid in his pocket and dreams in his head.

He turned 24 in May, survived a Clare whirlwind in June and ended a famine in July, a period of his life he will never forget.

And now, this year, as a 62-year-old devotee to Tipp hurling - where he earned the nickname the Minister of Hardship because of his willingness to continually coach teams - Ken Hogan is watching history repeat itself.

"Babs' Babes they called us," of his 1987 Tipperary team, who took Cork to the most famous Munster final replay win of all time, reawakening a county who had fallen on hard times.

Sound familiar? Well, that's because the 2025 Cahill's Colts are the successor to the 1987 Babs' Babes: young, dynamic and brilliant.

Five of them have been handed their Championship debuts this summer, in addition to the nine players who Cahill had capped, so to speak, in the previous two Championships.

Now here they are, in an All-Ireland final, a year after Tipp had flunked so badly in Munster that Cahill's position was called into question.

Significantly, though, Hogan stood by him. As a dyed-in-the-wool Tipp man, someone who served as an All-Ireland-winning keeper, then as Nicky English's selector when they won the 2001 All-Ireland, later as Tipp manager, Hogan's voice is respected and heard.

In October he went public to say Cahill needed to be backed, not just because a transitional team required time to gel but also because he recalled the manager's patience when he took Tipp to an All-Ireland minor title in 2016.

"He did it in his third year," says Hogan. "Then he brought them through at Under-21/20 level. So, Liam's pedigree was there. His work ethic is incredible.