Colm Bonnar is confident that Tipperary's rookies can step up to mark in this year's Championship.

Following the retirements of Brendan Maher and Padraic Maher and injuries to John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer and Seamus Callanan, Tipp are expected to go with a new-look team against Waterford in Sunday's Munster SHC opener.

“I was very conscious the first time I went in that a lot of the younger lads, and we're talking lads about 23/24 year olds, they're not really that young, they just haven't gotten an opportunity,” the Tipperary manager told gaa.ie at yesterday’s Bord Gáis Energy ‘The Gift of the GAAB’ launch.

“There was a hell of a team there in front of them over the last five or six years and they showed it in terms of winning the All-Ireland in '16 an '19. They're difficult to try to move off a team.

“But the likes of James Quigley, Brian McGrath, Craig Morgan, Dillon Quirke, Robert Byrne, Paddy Cadell, Ger Browne, Conor Bowe, Gearoid O'Connor, there's so many young lads there. Mark Kehoe and Jake Morris, still young fellas. They're all very, very good hurlers and these lads don't want to be second-best to anyone and they have huge ambition for themselves and huge ambition for Tipperary.

“When you match that in with the likes of Cathal Barrett, Ronan Maher, Barry Heffernan, Noel and John McGrath, Bonner Maher, Dan McCormack, there's huge experience there as well. We're very happy with the players that we have.

“A lot of those younger players, I think we've tried over 30 players in the League and a lot of the players I've mentioned there would have gotten chances during the League. It's just about getting the right mix now."

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