Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

They were the dream full forward line that terrorised defences in Munster and in Croke Park, at the end of the 80’s and the early 90’s. Before Babs Keating arrived few hurlers from the West of the county had made an impact on the Tipperary hurling team ; yet Babs had no regard for tradition or where a hurler came from. All he cared about was the ability of the hurler to produce it on the big day. They rewarded Babs' faith in them as in the 4 years that they started in the Tipp full forward line, the county only lost 1 championship game (92 V Cork). They were selected as the entire full forward line for the All-Stars in 89, (in 91 Fox and Bonner got awards), and 2 of them won Texaco Hurler of the Year Awards (89 English, 91 Fox). They were the entire full forward line on the West Tipperary Hurling team of the Millennium, scored nearly half of Tipp's Championship scores, and were at the forefront of leading Tipperary to 2 All-Irelands titles in 3 years.



Yet when Babs took over the team, few envisaged that either Fox or Cormac Bonnar would ever feature in his plans again. Both had spells with Tipp in the early 80’s, Fox had last played with Tipp in '85 where he got the run around from Thomas Mulcahy. Serious injuries to his knees had disrupted his career. Bonnar had a brief spell in the early 80’s and seemed to have more success with the Tipp footballers. Many Tipp people scoffed when both of them came back into the Tipp team, especially as forwards. Yet within minutes of both of their Championship debuts (under Babs) their immense value and potential was realised.



Fox was a craftsman with a hurley, which seemed to be an extension of his arm. He was under the shadow of Nicky in the early years but really came into his own on 1991 when he almost single handedly won the All-Ireland Final for Tipp scoring 5 points from play, on a day that both Bonnar and English were not fully fit. Bonnar not the most stylish or natural of forwards but he set up the scores for Fox and English, and often was over looked when praise was been handed out to the Tipp team. English was the darling of the media winning 6 All-Stars in 7 years, got the fancy scores and was the first one to be interviewed after the Tipp games. Yet the 3 of them combined superbly as a unit and were able to read each other’s game plan, and get the crucial scores that won games for Tipp.