TIPPERARY will have to plan without combative forward Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher for next Sunday’s crunch Allianz National Hurling League Division 1A clash with Kilkenny.
Maher, 23, has been ruled out of the first meeting between the sides since last August’s All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final.
Tipp boss Eamon O’Shea revealed at a press briefing that Maher, who recently joined the Army, will be unavailable due to work commitments.
O’Shea also explained that “four or five” of his players did not train on Tuesday night as injuries are monitored ahead of Sunday’s showdown.
Team captain Shane McGrath is rated as “50-50” to be ready after he sustained a hand injury during the 1-11 to 0-26 defeat against Cork in the opening round.
O’Shea said: “I’m just not sure on that (McGrath). We have to wait but he is improving more than I thought he would. We have knocks to people like Paul Curran, I think Larry (Corbett) has a knock and Conor O’Brien.
“Bonner Maher isn’t available for Sunday through work commitments.”
O’Shea, meanwhile, believes that the GAA’s controversial sideline rules have helped to create the “cult of the manager.”
Last month, GAA President Liam O’Neill lamented the cult of the manager but O’Shea believes that the Association’s touchline guidelines have in fact helped to foster this phenomenon.
O’Shea expressed strong support for Kilkenny selector Martin Fogarty, who issued a hard-hitting statement last month in which he accused GAA chiefs of “dictatorship.”
O’Shea explained: “It’s a real strange position to be standing there on the line without the support of your selectors.
The ‘Maor Foirne’ is actually caught up in the game – he is in and out of the pitch transmitting messages and you are depending on your third selector. Then you have to go and find him and he’s not always as close as you’d like. So, what I find this rule is doing is leading to the cult of the manager. The manager stands up there like the only game in town and I don’t think that should be the case.
An upbeat O’Shea is also refusing to panic despite Tipp’s heavy defeat to Cork.
He revealed that the squad’s hurling and fitness are well behind some other counties while also admitting that Tipp’s players are low on confidence at the present time.
O’Shea said: “If you saw the Munster game last Sunday, the Cork players are probably on top form at the moment, confidence wise. We’re probably lacking a bit in confidence at the moment.”
