WHEN TIPPERARY SLIPPED out the exit door after the 2024 hurling season, the mood was low.
The propped up the Munster senior round-robin table, winless from their four games. They had clawed back some pride with a battling last day showing against Clare, but the beatings at the hands of Limerick by 15 points and Cork by 18 points, lingered in their minds.
Ronan Maher had to digest a different experience from that which he embraced in the earlier part of his career. An All-Ireland senior winner in 2016 and 2019, he picked up All-Star awards in both those seasons.
Last winter was a more difficult one to put down as the clamour surrounding Tipperary hurling grew.
“It’s a difficult one, you try as a player and block out all the outside noise. It’s probably a skill that you have to learn over time. Living in Thurles and, especially in Tipperary, our own supporters can be tough critics and probably very understandable after last year.
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“We had to take ownership as players. There was hard conversations with everybody. Individuals probably had to look at each other. Players as a group, we had to look at each other. When you’re in it, you think you are and you think you are really close and you’re trying to do everything right.
“It’s only when things start going against you, you start looking at all these things. But there’s been learnings from from every aspect of it.
“Towards the end of the Munster championship last year we were nearly ready to come back and target this year because we knew that it wasn’t good enough. It’s a tough winter to take when you’re after being knocked out of Munster pretty quickly.
“Some people can panic a small bit and like I said Tipp (fans) they’re probably the most critical out there. They have high expectations of Tipperary and that’s okay. As long as you’re going out and you’re showing that there’s that unity on the field, that commitment, Tipp support will back you all day.”
This season has been about rising to meet those expectations. The league has seen Tipperary pick up five wins from six games, storming to the top of the Division 1A table and booking a place in Sunday’s final against Cork.
Bubbling under the Tipperary hurling surface are signs of promise. An All-Ireland minor title in 2022, contesting the All-Ireland U20 final last summer, a trio of Tipperary schools winning the last few Dr Harty Cups.
The senior squad has benefitted from an influx of youngsters.
“Some people make it out to be a lot worse than it is,” says Maher.
“You just have to have a bit of patience. We’re really trying to build something here. There’s five, six lads in there with us now, that are on the Tipp 20s panel and they’re really mature, really good lads, so as long as they keep coming, I think we’ll be in a really good place.”
The chance for silverware is something he’s targetting, irrespective of the proximity to championship.
“So I don’t believe in that too many games or it’s too close to the championship. You learn most out of playing high level games. The Munster championship is brutal. If you’re not on top of your game, you’ll end up out of championship fairly quickly.
“So I can only look at it as a positive being involved in all these games. When there’s silverware there in the final, it’s there to be won.”
Maher’s last trip to Cork was for the epic Saturday night championship encounter in 2023 that finished in a draw.
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It was a hectic week with his older brother Padraic getting married.
“It was two days before, he actually got married on Thursday, and we played on the Saturday night was it.That was a great day, the stadium was absolutely rocking that night.
“(I was) best man. I got back for training, so it was a very early night, say the speech and go to bed. I didn’t get to see much of that wedding no. It was a hectic week now and got to play in a cracker of a match. That was a great game. I always remember the stadium was absolutely shaking that night, so I’m sure it’d be like that again now.”
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Ronan Maher: 'We had to take ownership as players. There was hard conversations'
WHEN TIPPERARY SLIPPED out the exit door after the 2024 hurling season, the mood was low.
The propped up the Munster senior round-robin table, winless from their four games. They had clawed back some pride with a battling last day showing against Clare, but the beatings at the hands of Limerick by 15 points and Cork by 18 points, lingered in their minds.
Ronan Maher had to digest a different experience from that which he embraced in the earlier part of his career. An All-Ireland senior winner in 2016 and 2019, he picked up All-Star awards in both those seasons.
Last winter was a more difficult one to put down as the clamour surrounding Tipperary hurling grew.
“It’s a difficult one, you try as a player and block out all the outside noise. It’s probably a skill that you have to learn over time. Living in Thurles and, especially in Tipperary, our own supporters can be tough critics and probably very understandable after last year.
“We had to take ownership as players. There was hard conversations with everybody. Individuals probably had to look at each other. Players as a group, we had to look at each other. When you’re in it, you think you are and you think you are really close and you’re trying to do everything right.
“It’s only when things start going against you, you start looking at all these things. But there’s been learnings from from every aspect of it.
“Towards the end of the Munster championship last year we were nearly ready to come back and target this year because we knew that it wasn’t good enough. It’s a tough winter to take when you’re after being knocked out of Munster pretty quickly.
“Some people can panic a small bit and like I said Tipp (fans) they’re probably the most critical out there. They have high expectations of Tipperary and that’s okay. As long as you’re going out and you’re showing that there’s that unity on the field, that commitment, Tipp support will back you all day.”
This season has been about rising to meet those expectations. The league has seen Tipperary pick up five wins from six games, storming to the top of the Division 1A table and booking a place in Sunday’s final against Cork.
Bubbling under the Tipperary hurling surface are signs of promise. An All-Ireland minor title in 2022, contesting the All-Ireland U20 final last summer, a trio of Tipperary schools winning the last few Dr Harty Cups.
The senior squad has benefitted from an influx of youngsters.
“Some people make it out to be a lot worse than it is,” says Maher.
“You just have to have a bit of patience. We’re really trying to build something here. There’s five, six lads in there with us now, that are on the Tipp 20s panel and they’re really mature, really good lads, so as long as they keep coming, I think we’ll be in a really good place.”
The chance for silverware is something he’s targetting, irrespective of the proximity to championship.
“So I don’t believe in that too many games or it’s too close to the championship. You learn most out of playing high level games. The Munster championship is brutal. If you’re not on top of your game, you’ll end up out of championship fairly quickly.
“So I can only look at it as a positive being involved in all these games. When there’s silverware there in the final, it’s there to be won.”
Maher’s last trip to Cork was for the epic Saturday night championship encounter in 2023 that finished in a draw.
It was a hectic week with his older brother Padraic getting married.
“It was two days before, he actually got married on Thursday, and we played on the Saturday night was it.That was a great day, the stadium was absolutely rocking that night.
“(I was) best man. I got back for training, so it was a very early night, say the speech and go to bed. I didn’t get to see much of that wedding no. It was a hectic week now and got to play in a cracker of a match. That was a great game. I always remember the stadium was absolutely shaking that night, so I’m sure it’d be like that again now.”
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GAA Hurling Ronan Maher Tipperary