Premier County’s honest warrior

Brendan Maher has always fronted up for Tipperary. Now they need him up front.

Captain-in-waiting before he was ever captain, the Borrisoleigh man might be the most interviewed hurler in the country in recent times.

He’s played nearly everywhere for Tipp and talked most places too. His superhero name? Call him Honest Man.

At various times, Maher has been open about the doubts that have inhibited a golden generation, candid about his own struggles with confidence, frank on concerns about drug-testing regimes, and notably agitated with his own people’s readiness to load cutting criticism on their hurlers.

His achievements and quiet authority ensure he is listened to. The unusually sanguine reaction around the county to the league semi-final defeat by Waterford suggests he’s had a fair hearing.

“I would have noticed, actually, the fact that we spoke up a bit about it and started letting people know that we know you give out about us, kinda thing, that maybe they realised… But look, everyone says it but we never go out to play bad. No player goes out to play bad. Everyone puts it in. I think anyone who accuses a GAA player of not being committed doesn’t know what they are talking about.

“Any man or woman who’s willing to sacrifice so much of their life for the love of the game deserves a bit of respect. I respect every man and woman that takes the field and I respect anyone that supports the game and you just hope that you get that in return.”

What did Johnny B rap about him in 2010? “Shane McGrath’s got electric pace, Brendan Maher will invade your space.”

A multi-purpose tribute to a versatile talent. The reliable defender who got up close and personal. The elegant midfielder who surged through enemy lines.

A potent mix, perhaps, of nature and nurture. Growing up, his hurling heroes were cousin Philip, who cleaned out the Tipp square, and brother Martin, who swept the corners. Defending in the blood, but an ability to view the game’s broader canvas urged him, naturally, onto the front foot.

“Tommy Dunne, outside of the family, would have been my favourite hurler.”

He emulated one of his heroes by oiling the engine room in an All-Ireland winning team. Now he’s edging closer to the other’s territory.

“Eoin Kelly; even when I was playing with him, I watched him a lot and tried to emulate his swing.”

Re-purposed as a half-forward in this year’s league campaign — to answer Tipp’s perennial call for ball-winners to share the load with his namesake Patrick — Maher is likely to start in attack against Limerick on Sunday.

So far, the refit has had mixed reviews, maybe mixed feelings. Honest Man takes possession.

“I’m just happy to be playing, but it’s a challenge, there’s no point in saying it’s not. Having given the last six years playing half-back or midfield, it’s definitely a challenge, but it’s something that’s motivating me fierce, to see if I can make the transition.

“I’ve had some okay games and haven’t always performed the way I want to perform, but that’s what I’m looking for and that’s what’s motivating me.

“You’re being hunted rather than being the hunter. It’s an adjustment. I suppose one of the reasons Eamon would have put me up there is to bring my defensive mindset to the half-forward line and get my tackles and get my workrate in there and, if I can do that and it’s working well for the team, I don’t care if I don’t score.”

The people who count such things noted that Tipp came up a little short in the tackling department in that league semi-final. The people who talk about such things noted it wasn’t the first time.

“We were slightly lower than Waterford, alright,” accepts Maher. “In any game, you look at the workrate of both teams and, maybe, the possession and turnovers. They had more turnovers than us and that’s something we’ll work on.”

There has been no lack of diagnoses when sages puzzle why Maher and his comrades haven’t collected a second Celtic Cross. Kilkenny might be the short answer, but a shortage of aggression, perceived inability to close out nerve-janglers, and a curious tendency to soil otherwise solid performances with 10-minute fade-outs all feature prominently among the theories.

Against Limerick two years ago, they seemed set to coast home when John O’Dwyer goaled with 20 left. Maybe they sensed as much and employed cruise control a touch early. In 10 costly minutes, Limerick changed the dynamic of the counties’ relationship.

Maher admits the camp have wrestled with the reasons for those fallow periods.

“You look back at the final last year… in the second game, you’d look at the goals Kilkenny got and particularly the 10-15 minute period after half-time. They really dominated us and that’s something we’ve looked at and said, we just can’t let that happen again, against any opposition. I think it’s a mental thing. Something that we need to do differently. Maybe there was something that we needed to do, rather than something we did wrong. Maybe it’s something we didn’t do, but hindsight is great. It’s in the heat of the battle, when you need to be able to make those decisions. It’s all about trusting your instincts and making your decisions based on your instincts and you build up the level of your instincts in training. If you can start making the right decisions in training and putting yourself under pressure in training, that’s probably the most important thing.”

Another of those persistent theories about Tipp: they’d rather hurl away on their instincts than cope with someone else’s idea of how a game should be hurled. Cruise the highways in top gear rather than toil behind a Tactics Truck.

Maher bats that one clear. “The way the game is now, if you want to be successful, you have to be tactically aware. That’s just the way the game is. There’s no point in saying you’d prefer it this way or that way, because it’s the way it is and you have to deal with it the way it is at the moment.”

“We try to go out and approach the game the way we want to approach it and impose our style of play on the game and hope that’s what happens.”

He’ll approach this one with his usual Saturday night in front of the TV. “I always do a 25-minute stretch. It’s a DVD I follow on the night before a game.”

On Sunday, he’ll allow the mind drift from business to emotion. “Thoughts of why you’re doing it. My family, friends, people that support you through thick and thin. What it would mean to them as much as yourself, for you to succeed.”

That’ll keep him honest.