Tipperary have been going through "a bit of a dip" according to their competitive half back Raymie Ryan. Yet he sees signs that there is cause for optimism even allowing for last Sunday's defeat by Kilkenny.

That defeat, after two previous wins, in the National League brought Tipperary up short although they still have a chance of reaching the play-off stages. The wins were over Down who were overwhelmed on a score of 4-23 to 0-8 while Wexford were beaten 1-16 to 1-8. The defeat against Kilkenny was a big disappointment. He says Tipperary were exposed "for what we are". Asked to elaborate he pointed out that the team at the moment is inexperienced.

He rhymes off the young players from Kevin O'Brien in goal to Donnacha Fahy and Eamon Corcoran in the backs and David Kennedy, Eddie Enright, Paul Kelly and Eddie Tucker elsewhere. He goes on to name John Leahy as the grandfather of the side and puts Liam Sheedy and himself as the only other experienced players in the team which played Kilkenny.

Leahy and Sheedy, he points out, are just 30 while he, himself, is 28. "That is not old by modern standards. We have lots of hurling in us yet," he says.

Commenting on the new management regime in Tipperary with Nicholas English, Ken Hogan and Jack Bergin in charge, he says the fact that they are all former players from not very long ago, is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. "They have adopted a youthful, modern approach and the training is enjoyable. At this stage most of the training is hurling and more hurling. We started training back in January and the stamina was built up. Now the ball is the thing," he says.

While the National League is not regarded in the same light as the championship he admits that defeat in any match is always a disappointment.

"No team likes to lose a match and selectors will never send out a team telling them to take it easy. That would be a very dangerous attitude because a team might begin to forget how to play when the big day comes. We would never take a match against Cork in Semple Stadium other than very seriously. Neither side will be interested in losing this one, I can assure you," he says.

"There is no great form in the league," he points out. "Teams which win impressively one week play badly the next and it is difficult to get a run going at this time of the year.

"We are now embarked on a three-year programme to get us out of the dip. We haven't won a Munster championship since 1993 and that is not good," he says. Yet he feels there are signs of improvement in spite of the fall from grace in Kilkenny.

"A quarter of an hour into the match it really took off and from then to the end it was close to championship pace with a crowd of about 10,000 roaring on both teams. That is good experience for the younger players. We are now focused on the first round championship match against Kerry and the best way to prepare for that is to win as many matches as we can.

"We now have a new senior club league in Tipperary as well and that means that players at all grades are getting good, hard competitive matches. That should be helpful in rebuilding hurling in Tipperary. Don't forget we haven't won the Munster club title since Toomevara won in I994. That is a long gap in Tipperary terms," he says.

He is a a supporter of Saturday evening matches. "I think it is a great idea and the spectators seem to like it because they come along in big numbers especially children and young adults. We played a National League match against Cork on a Saturday evening in 1997. A very big crowd turned up. It was a beautiful warm sunny evening and there was a carnival atmosphere about the place in Thurles. I believe we will see more of that and it can do a lot for hurling if the game can be played in better conditions and the National League need not be drawn out with so many extra dates available," he says.

He also welcomes the "back door" policy of recent years preferring to call it "the second chance" method.

"After putting such a lot of effort over a long period in getting ready for a big match and then losing is very hard to take. For instance the draw this year means that Cork, Waterford or Limerick may be gone in the first round.

"If we beat Kerry in the first round we then meet Clare and either of us is gone on the spot. The second chance method at least gives a second chance to some teams. It seems to have been a great benefit to Gaelic games as a whole.

"This year's Munster championship should be a great one and the fact that the beaten team in the final gets another chance is a great incentive. Waterford made great strides last year and it will be interesting to see if they can repeat it. They have the players and a good set-up and really five teams are all in with a chance this year. It suggests to me that it will be harder to win than ever before. That's what makes the Munster championship great," he says with enthusiasm.

It is the kind of enthusiasm which players like Raymie Ryan can instil into younger players and that in itself suggests that the "dip" of which he speaks is well on the way to being ironed out.