Scar mars Maher's day in Croke Park sun
"I'd rather not be, but sure that's it these days, there is nothing I can do about it now."
The cause of his upset, is a small scar which runs alongside his knee cap, the remnants of surgery which has forced him to miss tomorrow's meeting with Kilkenny in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final in Croke Park. When the sides last met, in the NHL final, Maher was the Premier full-back, enjoying a fine tussle in front of goal with long Martin Comerford. Then it happened.
"I did the cruciate ligament, which runs from top to bottom of the knee," he recalls. "The next time I tried to turn, the ligament just wasn't there to hold the knee, and I went down like a sack of spuds."
Phillip Maher is no sack of spuds. In a vintage era for full-backs, Maher is quite possibly the best of his generation. When he went down for the second time that day, it was immediately obvious that this was more than just a bruise. A few days later those fears were confirmed, but immediately, Phillip set about getting himself right. He had the dreaded operation and set himself the target date. Sunday, September 14.
"I will do everything within my own power that can be done, I will do all that's asked of me, and I will be ready," he remarked at the time.
But nature had other ideas. Cursed once with the original injury, he was to be cursed again in his recovery. And again.
"I'm completely out of the picture for another while anyway, had a lot of setbacks. In the beginning, I nearly got an infection on the wound, and they had to lacerate it. That left a bit of a hole in my leg which stopped me going to the pool for a few months which is a major part of the recovery programme for a cruciate ligament.
"After that then I got fluid in the knee which I haven't got rid of yet. They tried to syringe it out last Tuesday week, but when I took off the bandage on Thursday it was back again. I can't do any real heavy weights 'til the fluid is gone, so that's slowing me up . I'm walking fine, I suppose I could run if I really had to but if anything went wrong, the leg wouldn't be strong enough to hold me."
He'll still be there of course tomorrow. He is still very much a part of the squad, travels to all the games in the team bus, rooms with his replacement, Paul Curran, with whom he's very impressed.
"He was always a great player, there or thereabouts, pushing me for the last few years. Earlier this year he decided to concentrate on his exams and then head for the States, and I remember saying to Tommy Dunne that it was a shame, because we both reckoned he was definitely good enough to be somewhere on the panel, even on the team.
"He had a great year for Mullinahone last year when they won the county senior championship for the first time. When I got injured they brought him back in, but that was only a couple of weeks before the Clare game. He was under a bit of pressure that day but there was never any question about his ability and since then he's adapted fierce well, is very solid and is getting better with every game."
He'll need to be an awful lot better tomorrow because in Martin Comerford, he is meeting an exceptional talent. Outstanding in the air, on the sod, able to take goal or point, but a player also of extraordinary vision. Maher might have been his match having held Comerford to just one point in last year's mighty semi-final clash between the same two teams. But what of Paul Curran?
Well, this is where Phillip can still make a contribution. A natural leader anyway, he can coach the Mullinahone youngster, give him a few pointers, get the mental attitude right which may be a critical factor on days like this. It is a little consolation, but not the same. Not the same as being in there, and on the day, in the stand, the man from Borrisoleigh will suffer the same agonies as the thousands of Tipp fans.
"Oh, even worse. I never really knew how bad it was until I was up in the stands for the last few matches, but I do now. Terrible, and even worse when you know you could have been down there, but there's nothing you can do about it now. It is very hard to watch, and I reckon this one is going to be close, a fifty/fifty game. No one could call a game like that and anyone who does is really only guessing. It's going to be nerve-wracking."
