PÁDRAIC MAHER MAY be retired from inter-county hurling but that doesn’t mean his brother Ronan is seeing any less of him.
Rather than soldiering beside him in the Tipperary and Thurles Sarsfields half-back lines, Ronan’s elder sibling will be just a few yards further away on the sideline. In the dressing room and at training sessions. A selector for Tipperary. The man in the bainisteoir bib at Thurles Sarsfields.
There was Pádraic’s autobiography out for the Christmas rush too. “It’s good, yeah,” says Ronan Maher as confirmation he’s read it and a recommendation all in one. “An easy read anyway.”
All the change and publicity won’t alter the brothers’ relationship when it comes to hurling in 2023. When Pádraic was asked by Liam Cahill to come on board as a Tipperary selector, Ronan wasn’t consulted, but that doesn’t mean his role wasn’t considered by his elder brother.
“He didn’t say anything to me anyway. It was out of the blue more than anything,” says Ronan.
“He wouldn’t really say too much to me anyway. We keep to our own sides.
“But it’s really good to have him in there and it fills a void for him as well not being able to play. He has lots to offer there as a selector.
“I’m sure he thought about it long and hard before he took on the role and I suppose it’s a really hard role to turn down, you mightn’t be asked again.
“He’s in now so we’re absolutely delighted to have him in there. He’d love to be still playing but unfortunately, considering the circumstances, he’s obviously not able.”
Ronan predicts a few marathons in Pádraic’s future, keeping him occupied in his fitness goals in the absence of inter-county hurling or, indeed, any contact sport since the neck injury that ended his playing days.
“He brings huge experience so it’s really good from that point of view. He is that link between the players. He would have hurled with a lot of them but there’s a lot of new faces so it’s good to get that bond as well.”
After the 2022 Tipperary hurling endured, perspective isn’t hard to find. The death of the Mahers’ half-back line colleague Dillon Quirke last August remains hard to comprehend. Wherever this team goes, his name, his personality, and his legacy won’t be forgotten.
“It’s really, really hard for a lot of lads who would have been really friendly with Dillon. It just puts everything into perspective, hurling-wise. We had a really tight unit there as a team and it affected us all,” says Ronan.
“We’ll definitely be playing with him in the back of our minds now going forward and we’ll try to represent him and his family as best we can.
“As long as we’re there to support each other and if they need anything, we’re all here to help each other out.”
That terrible news came at a time when Ronan was out injured with a broken leg. The fracture in his fibula left him out for longer than expected, missing all but the final moments of Sarsfields’ club championship campaign against Quirke’s Clonoulty-Rossmore clubmates.
Such an extended spell off the field was a first for the two-time All-Star and while frustrating, he can reflect on the unintended benefits now that he’s back to full fitness.
“I wasn’t back on the pitch for eight or nine week, not being able to do anything was tough. I’ve never been really injured like that before so it was new to me.
“The other side was refreshing that I got a break from hurling for a while so it was nice to give the body a break as well.”
Tipperary have put in a heavy block of training before Christmas, he reports, and they will all be raring to make a strong first impression on Liam Cahill for their first outing of 2023 against Waterford in the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League tomorrow.
“It’s exciting now and I’m really enjoying it at the minute. Training is tough with the lads. They’ve really freshened it up a good bit.
“Michael [Bevans] is a very good coach, so really looking forward to attacking the year and bring Tipperary back to where they should be.
“We probably weren’t up to the standard last year and that’s up to us and we have to be accountable as players to turn it around this year.”
With Déise legend Tony Browne alongside Pádraic Maher in Cahill’s backroom unit, Ronan won’t be short of half-back line advice.
“Tony, from what I’ve worked with him so far this year, is really good. He’s wise and he’s clever. We all knew that the way he was playing on the pitch but he’s really good to speak to as well so I’ll be going to him throughout the year for some advice.
“Tony is going to hop off lads anyway. He’ll be in and out and out and speaking to them in patches but he’s really clever and tactical-wise he’s very good as well so we’ll soak him for information anyway.”
As for the departure of Colm Bonnar, then-captain Maher doesn’t claim any particular role in the decision to cut short the Cashel man’s tenure after one campaign.
“Ah no, I didn’t really have any much input or anything like that. Obviously, our standards weren’t high enough last year and it’s just a refreshing way they’ve probably approached it this year.
“I wouldn’t really have had that much input as captain. I wouldn’t really have had too much to say.”
He sent Bonnar a text after the decision was made and remains grateful for being made captain for that 2022 season.
“I’d great time for Colm. He took the job when probably nobody else wanted to take it. Obviously, it didn’t turn out the way he probably wanted it to turn out.
“He’s probably hugely disappointed but he was really good to us in Tipp and we really appreciated him for taking on the job and giving it everything he could.”