The Friday Interview: Maher ready for the long road
January 27, 2012
Sean O'Brien of LIT Tipperary's Padraic Maher during the Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Preliminary Round at Dolla, Tipperary
The long road to redemption begins for the Tipperary hurlers began last Sunday when they defeated Davy Fitzgerald's LIT in the first round of the Waterford Crystal Cup. Having spent the winter sifting through the ashes of last year's failed All-Ireland bid, Tipp are eager to get back down to business and to bounce back as quickly as possible.
"We're trying to put the head down again and get last year's All-Ireland final out of our minds," star half back Padraic Maher explained when hoganstand.com caught up with him after a brisk Tuesday training session in Semple Stadium.
"We know that we didn't perform and it's always harder to take a defeat when that's the case. Kilkenny were far superior on the day, we have to try to rectify that and that starts with pre-season training. The only positive I would take from the All-Ireland final is that we managed to get so close to them, even though we were out-played and out-hurled for most of the game.
"We have a few targets for the coming year, but the main one is to get back to back to Croke Park in September and makes amends for last year. It's a long way back, but that's the target."
The 22-year-old, who was this week named as Tipp's new vice-captain to Paul Curran, is well aware of the amount of work that is needed to win the Liam McCarthy Cup.
"We've been in the last three All-Ireland finals so we know what's involved. It's all about putting in the work on the training field and performing in the games. You also need a lot of luck. When we won the All-Ireland in 2010, we got the breaks against Galway in the quarter-final and it was the same in last year's semi-final against Dublin. Every team needs a bit of luck if they want to win things."
The Thurles Sarsfields clubman is encouraged by the fact that Tipp suffered hardly any retirements during the off-season.
"Apart from Benny Dunne, everyone else is back," he enthuses.
"It's great to see the older lads like Brendan Cummins committing to the cause for another year. Some of them have young families, but they are still prepared to give the commitment. Their motivation is to win another All-Ireland. We've also got Shane Maher back in with us after he took a break last year and I've no doubt he'll be a huge addition."
Like most counties, Tipp will be using the Waterford Crystal Cup to brush off the cobwebs and try out new players.
"It's a great opportunity for the lads on the fringes to make an impression. We'll be using it to build up fitness and confidence. The more games we get in it the better because we have a very tough game against Kilkenny coming up in the first round of the league down in Nowlan Park on February 25. We need to be ready for that one."
The All Star defender, who is currently in the middle of a five-month exercise and fitness course at UL, believes a good showing in the National League will stand Tipp in good stead for the championship. And while there has been much opposition to the new slimmed-down Division 1A, Maher is in favour of the new structure.
"I'd prefer the new format because every game in the league is huge now and they can take a lot of you. We're going to be coming up against the top teams in the country nearly every week. We'll have two games less this year, but four of the six teams in the division are going to end up in semi-finals and that's another game straight away. And if you are lucky enough to reach the final, that's seven games," he points out.
"We have some great games against Kilkenny, Galway, Dublin, Cork and Waterford to look forward to and it's going to be a hell of a competition. If we can get a few wins under our belt, it will get the confidence going. It would be great to win it because it's something we haven't managed to do since 2008 and it sets you up for the championship. Kilkenny have been winning leagues and it has stood to them in the championship.
"Traditionally, Tipp have always done well in the championship when they've won the league, so we know how important it is to have a good league campaign."
Of course, Tipp already have one eye on their Munster championship quarter-final against Limerick - the winners of which will face Jimmy Barry-Murphy's Cork in the semi-final.
"We will need to on our toes for that one," a wary Padraic says.
"Limerick improved a lot last year under Donal O'Grady and they will be aiming to build on that progress under John Allen this year. They won the Munster U21 championship last year and were desperately unlucky to lose to Waterford in the senior. They have a great crop of young players coming along and there will be no fear in them.
"They'd love nothing better than to come to Thurles and take the Munster title off us. If we take them for granted or underestimate them in any way, they'll beat us. But there's a lot of hurling to be played between now and then. Our short-term goal is to give the league a good rattle and to get the form and confidence up."
A star underage player with Durlas Og - the juvenile section of Thurles Sarsfields - Padraic first came to prominence at national level as full back on the Liam Sheedy-managed Tipperary minor team that won the All-Ireland in 2006. He was still eligible for the grade the following year when Tipp retained the Irish Press Cup under the tutelage of current senior boss Declan Ryan.
He made his senior debut against Dublin in the 2009 National League and quickly established himself as first choice full back as Tipp reached the All-Ireland final, only to lose to Kilkenny in heartbreaking circumstances. Since then, he has featured mainly in the half back line and wore the number seven jersey when the Premier County lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup in 2010, stopping Kilkenny from achieving an unprecedented five-in-a-row in the process.
With one All-Ireland senior, one All-Ireland U21 (2010), two All-Ireland minor (2006 and '07), two Munster senior (2009 and 2011), two Tipperary SHC medals (2009 and 2010) and two All Star awards (2009 and 2011) to his credit, Maher has already achieved more than what most players 10 years his senior can only dream of. And don't be surprised to see him on the winners' podium again in 2012. Tweet
