Michael Quinlivan relishing life on centre stage

Michael Quinlivan was on the Hill for Mayo and Tyrone. Spying would be an exaggeration as he lives up the road but paying close attention nonetheless. He stalled on his ideal perch for Dublin and Donegal, not allowing himself to dream too far.

"€20 for a ticket for those two games is something too good to be passing up so I went," he said on collection of the GPA/GAA Opel footballer of the month award.

“The physicality of the game was just on another level. It was very interesting to watch. Mayo’s big players stood up when it mattered, that was the overriding feeling that I took from it anyway.”

The swelling Hill 16 on Dublin days is an experience all GAA enthusiasts should sample.

“It’s a bit of a different view. You can see things from the Hill that you can’t from sitting a bit lower down. It got a bit packed then when the Dubs came in but I only stayed for about half of that.”

Anyone recognise you? Any abuse?

“No, no. I kept quiet. I was surrounded by a good few Tyrone people. I know a good few people from Tyrone so I’m alright.

“I actually just enjoyed the game. The scores in it were phenomenal.

“Lee Keegan’s point with his left leg, under that sort of pressure, is one of the best scores of the championship. The one on the loop from Cillian O’Connor as well, an absolute monster. There was a lot of impressive performances on the Mayo side. There’s no denying that and we obviously do have our work cut out to try and curb the influence of a few of them players.”

Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final is the first time Quinlivan's Tipperary meet Mayo in competitive football. When a fan becomes a player.

“I presume they’ll probably have something different for us and it might be a bit hard to read into their game against Tyrone because maybe we probably wouldn’t play with the same amount of men in our back line as maybe Tyrone might.

“They’re a lot bigger than us,” he smiled.

“They’ve been at this level now for, what is it, six years in a row they’ve been at an All-Ireland semi-final. They’re well used to this end of the championship, it’s our first year. We’re a bit green and our conditioning mightn’t be like division one level because we’ve a lot of young guys who have just come through.”

The neutral would fear for Tipperary, for a competitive spectacle.

Those peering in on Tipperary’s Munster final defeat in Killarney last month will be hard moved away from that view.

"I think we were a bit worked up before the Kerry game, it being our first Munster final. I wasn't even nerves it was more just the occasion and it probably got to us a small bit and we didn't really play to our potential so we were a lot more relaxed for our last two games [victories over Galway and Derry] and if we can be as relaxed against Mayo I think that will probably stand to us. We have received a lot of plaudits for the way we're playing but it's just a style that seems to suit us, I think."

Quinlivan touched upon the hallmark of all top teams in the country – the smothering defensive attitude of tracking forwards.

"I thought the work rate of (Kerry's) forward line really put us under huge pressure. Maybe they identify the fact that our backs were comfortable on the ball and stop the supply coming in. Paul Geaney and Steven O'Brien and Darran O'Sullivan were probably their three hardest working players on the field I thought. They'd loads of turnovers as well, for an inside forward line that's out of this world. Maybe they targeted that and when they really did kick, we struggled a small bit.

You look at the quality they’re bringing off the bench. You’ve a footballer of the year and a pile of All-Stars.”

He is familiar with Croke Park on the big days having won a minor All-Ireland in 2011 but Sunday represents a “career game,” to borrow the phrase Eamon McGee used to describe Donegal’s meeting with Kerry in 2012.

“Yeah, it’s the most high profile game we’ve played in I suppose.

While we have won things on the way up, this is the biggest game we have played in over our lifetime.

“At the same time I am just looking forward to it. It’s great to be sitting here and talking about playing in an All-Ireland semi-final because most of the time I’m reading the build up or looking on from a TV screen down in Tipperary. We are relishing the opportunity.”