Keating rules out Maher recall

June 12, 2007

Philip Maher
Tipperary boss Michael 'Babs' Keating has no plans to recall former All-Star full back Philip Maher to his panel for Saturday evening's Munster SHC semi-final replay against Limerick at Thurles. First-choice full back Paul Curran was a late withdrawal because of injury for the drawn game and won't have recovered in time for the replay. His replacement Declan Fanning struggled in the position and this has led to speculation that Maher, who left the panel earlier in the year, could be brought back in on an emergency basis. But Keating has firmly ruled out such a possibility. "We have to plan without Paul. He has a broken toe and we have to get on with it," the Tipp manager said. "I'd rule out asking Philip Maher to come back because it wouldn't be fair on anyone. He had to leave the panel during the league for personal reasons that meant he couldn't give the commitment necessary to training. "We left the door open for him if he changed his mind, but he hasn't been in a position to do that and we understand the situation. This is a championship replay and it wouldn't be fair to expect someone who hasn't been in training to walk into that sort of a game. "Declan Fanning has played quite a bit at full back during the league and we'd be confident that his form then is closer to what he has to offer than the difficult circumstances on Sunday when the full backs were disrupted by having to provide the spare man."

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