PADRAIC MAHER DOESN’T have particularly fond memories of his last outing at full-back for Tipperary.
In hindsight, he sees last summer’s All-Ireland qualifier win over Galway as a line in the sand for this group of players. The Premier put their Munster championship struggles behind them and found the form that would carry them to within a computer-measured millimetre of All-Ireland glory.
For Maher himself though, it was a tough day at the office. He struggled to contain the physical Johnny Glynn on the edge of the square and, after setting up 1-4 in the first half, the Galway youngster fired two goals in six second-half minutes that left Tipp’s season hanging by a thread.
Switching Glynn and James Barry plugged the gap; Tipp held Galway to a single Joe Canning score in the last 20 minutes and lived to fight another day.
Since then Barry has made the number three jersey his own while Maher has returned to his natural home at centre-back, cementing his importance with a series of assured displays as sweeper.
Tipp didn’t concede from a goal from play in their victorious Munster campaign, and Maher earned his chunk of the credit.
“It’s my most comfortable position,” he explains. “It’s where I played all my underage hurling and it’s where I play with the club.
“It’s not that I don’t feel as comfortable at seven (wing-back). I don’t even mind going back in full-back if I have to, even if it’s not my preferred position.
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“You have to be able to adapt to them all, but at the moment I’m enjoying it as much at six as anywhere else.”
Little wonder then that Tipperary are waiting anxiously on news of Maher’s fitness. A thumping collision with Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh early in the Munster final aggravated an old shoulder joint injury.
Maher carried on — “I wasn’t going to go off too easy if I wasn’t putting the team in too much danger” — but he was limited in what he could do for a couple of weeks afterwards.
In the circumstances the five-week break suited him perfectly, and he’s confident that he’ll be ready for Sunday.
Until he gets out on the field, though, there’s no way of predicting what Galway will throw at Tipp and how it will affect Maher’s own role in the half-backs. Will he go one-on-one against Glynn again or will he resume his free role?
“It changes every game — Waterford, with their style of play, and Limerick as well, and I have no doubt that this game will be another bit different.
“That’s something we work out ourselves on the field after the first few minutes once you’ve got a feel for it and you know what way the game is going to go.
You have to be able to adapt to any situation and that’s what you’re doing in training. Every inter-county team is at it. They go through different strategies about what way the game might pan out.
“It changes every day and no doubt it’ll change on Sunday.”
Maher celebrates after the Munster final, Tipp's first under Eamon O'Shea. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
The success of Waterford, in particular, and their use of Tadhg de Burca has led to a renewed focus on hurling’s sweepers.
“You just have to be an outlet for every other Tipp back on the field and you have to deliver the best ball you can into the forwards,” Maher explains.
“You have that bit of time, but teams are more inclined to put that bit of extra pressure on those teams at the moment, the way everyone is setting up.
“It’ll probably change again against Galway.
People think if you’re not marking anybody, you’ve no one to look after, you’ve a free role, but it’s not as easy as that when you’ve got someone like Brick Walsh breathing down your neck the whole time.
“It’s the same for Tadhg de Burca as well. People are marking him out as well.
“It’s something you have to get on with and you have to be on your game as much, if not more, than any other player on the field.
“Decision making has to be 100% because you’re given all sorts of scenarios,” he adds.
“You might have to cover for lads. You have to be there as an outlet. You have to be on your game more than ever.”
'You have to be on your game more than ever' - The job of an inter-county sweeper
PADRAIC MAHER DOESN’T have particularly fond memories of his last outing at full-back for Tipperary.
In hindsight, he sees last summer’s All-Ireland qualifier win over Galway as a line in the sand for this group of players. The Premier put their Munster championship struggles behind them and found the form that would carry them to within a computer-measured millimetre of All-Ireland glory.
For Maher himself though, it was a tough day at the office. He struggled to contain the physical Johnny Glynn on the edge of the square and, after setting up 1-4 in the first half, the Galway youngster fired two goals in six second-half minutes that left Tipp’s season hanging by a thread.
Switching Glynn and James Barry plugged the gap; Tipp held Galway to a single Joe Canning score in the last 20 minutes and lived to fight another day.
Since then Barry has made the number three jersey his own while Maher has returned to his natural home at centre-back, cementing his importance with a series of assured displays as sweeper.
Tipp didn’t concede from a goal from play in their victorious Munster campaign, and Maher earned his chunk of the credit.
“It’s my most comfortable position,” he explains. “It’s where I played all my underage hurling and it’s where I play with the club.
“It’s not that I don’t feel as comfortable at seven (wing-back). I don’t even mind going back in full-back if I have to, even if it’s not my preferred position.
“You have to be able to adapt to them all, but at the moment I’m enjoying it as much at six as anywhere else.”
Little wonder then that Tipperary are waiting anxiously on news of Maher’s fitness. A thumping collision with Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh early in the Munster final aggravated an old shoulder joint injury.
Maher carried on — “I wasn’t going to go off too easy if I wasn’t putting the team in too much danger” — but he was limited in what he could do for a couple of weeks afterwards.
In the circumstances the five-week break suited him perfectly, and he’s confident that he’ll be ready for Sunday.
Until he gets out on the field, though, there’s no way of predicting what Galway will throw at Tipp and how it will affect Maher’s own role in the half-backs. Will he go one-on-one against Glynn again or will he resume his free role?
“It changes every game — Waterford, with their style of play, and Limerick as well, and I have no doubt that this game will be another bit different.
“That’s something we work out ourselves on the field after the first few minutes once you’ve got a feel for it and you know what way the game is going to go.
“It changes every day and no doubt it’ll change on Sunday.”
The success of Waterford, in particular, and their use of Tadhg de Burca has led to a renewed focus on hurling’s sweepers.
“You just have to be an outlet for every other Tipp back on the field and you have to deliver the best ball you can into the forwards,” Maher explains.
“You have that bit of time, but teams are more inclined to put that bit of extra pressure on those teams at the moment, the way everyone is setting up.
“It’ll probably change again against Galway.
“It’s the same for Tadhg de Burca as well. People are marking him out as well.
“It’s something you have to get on with and you have to be on your game as much, if not more, than any other player on the field.
“Decision making has to be 100% because you’re given all sorts of scenarios,” he adds.
“You might have to cover for lads. You have to be there as an outlet. You have to be on your game more than ever.”
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GAA GAA 2015 Padraic Maher Sweep Stakes Galway Tipperary