Inspirational Maher in right place to make a difference
It’s not all imagination either and getting caught in the triangle of Byrne/Brennan/Doyle (1949/’50/’51) and later Doyle/Maher/Carey (1962/’64/’65) must have felt like being caught in a thresher. It’s often forgotten though that Doyle was also a superb ball-player and won the middle two of his eight All-Irelands at left-half back.
Tomorrow in Páirc Uí Chaoimh Padraic Maher will line out in that position for Tipperary. A skilful ball player but also a big, strong, robust, chest-out player in the Doyle mould.
In Tipperary’s win over arch-rivals Cork in the Munster semi-final, for example, he earned himself a yellow card before the ball was thrown in, establishing territorial dominance over Cathal Naughton.
It called to mind an incident in a Tipperary club game a few decades ago (Thurles Sars v Nenagh, 1992) when Padraic’s father, Paddy, was sent off before the ball was thrown in.
“His [Paddy’s] mother then asked at half-time, ‘why is he playing so bad?’,” Padraic laughed this week recalling that event. “His sister had to say ‘he’s not even on the field!’”
You can see then why the previous Tipperary selection committee headed by Liam Sheedy saw Padraic as a potential stopper-type, a ready-made full-back and tried him there for a while.
It lasted until another Munster championship meeting against Cork, two years ago. That day, like tomorrow’s game, Tipperary were red-hot favourites but were torn apart by Cork. It was the last time Padraic started at full-back and, he says, hopefully the last time ever!
“I think it’s quite well known that I don’t like that place back there. Ever since playing Harty Cup in school they’ve been stuck for full-backs and I was always the one put back there.
“I was happy with that for a few years but I’d rather be out the field and involved with the play a bit more. Obviously you’re not going to be hurling as much back at full-back. You could be resting or pulling-and-dragging at lads for 70 minutes. It’s just a different position altogether than the half-back line.
“Personally I feel with my own ability I can influence a game more from six or seven. In the league semi-final this year Paul Curran got injured so I was back in full-back. I was very frustrated in there for the last 15 minutes because I felt I could have helped the cause a bit more if I was out in the half-back line. I had a job to do though and I was more than happy to do it.”
Full-back or wing-back, however, Padraic felt he had a point to prove against Cork a few weeks ago, memories of 2010 still fresh.
“I suppose it did fire us up a bit more for the game this year and we wanted to redeem ourselves in certain ways. I think we did that. 2010 was just one of those days and in a way I was happy enough that it happened because you learn from your mistakes.”
Tipperary certainly did that also, went on to win the All-Ireland title, Padraic having a massive influence when shifted to his more favoured half-back position.
Massive influences also in that All-Ireland final win were the experienced duo of Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett, along with goalkeeper Brendan Cummins, survivors all from the All-Ireland triumph of 2001, but it’s time now for those of Padraic’s own generation to take over the mantle of team leaders. He’s ready, and more importantly, he’s able, no matter what the position.
Many see him as a future dominant centre-back but don’t rule out a return to the edge of the square.
“I said to Declan [Ryan] and to Liam Sheedy a few years before that, that if needs be I’ll go back, no problem at all.”
Team first, an innate quality in any leader. John Doyle had it, in spades. This guy has it and will be first over the top tomorrow.
“Last year was a farce of a Munster final,” he said (7-19 to 0-19 Tipp win).
“It’s never going to happen again. Everything worked for us, nothing worked for Waterford. It’s going to be a real battle of a game.”
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