IN ALL FAIRNESS - Padraic Maher is a Tipp hurling immortal

I was dreading the day Padraic Maher wouldn’t wear the blue and gold again, and it’s made worse by the fact that we’ll never see him play the great game of hurling again.

That he has been forced to retire due to injury and hasn’t been able to exit on his own terms, especially with Tipperary, isn’t what a player of his stature deserves, but in some ways it is appropriate such is the warrior of a player he was that is what the pounding his body took over the years finally took its toll.

A debate on the best fifteen hurlers to play for Tipperary has been and will be never-ending and such is the class of player the county has produced, no selection would be wrong, but it would be if it doesn’t include Padraic Maher.

While Tipperary have had some greats playing at the highest level from Brendan Maher, Noel McGrath, and Seamus Callanan over the last fifteen years, Padraic Maher has been my favourite of the lot. From the first moment I saw him play, he brought presence and leadership to the field. It was in 2006, Tipperary had reached a Munster minor hurling final, but Padraic Maher didn’t feature in the two games prior to that, one of the few mistakes Liam Sheedy made with Tipperary but he quickly saw the error of his ways.

Despite comfortably winning the Munster semi-final against Limerick that year, Tipperary conceded three goals with the full back position needing solidifying and come the Munster Final, Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields) appeared on the match programme for the first time, at the edge of the square, and the rest as we say is history. Tipperary lost that Munster Final to Cork, but Maher impressed in defeat and later in the year, would really announce himself by out-duelling Joe Canning in the All-Ireland final victory over Galway, holding the Portumna man scoreless from play when Canning was going for an unprecedented third All-Ireland minor medal.

After that, Maher was one of the players destined for greatness, and to be that you not only have to be talented, but you also need to be grounded and with such as strong and steady family behind him, there was never any chance Padraic would lose the run of himself.

Padraic’s success for club and county is there for all to see in the titles won in his roll of honour on the back page. It wasn’t just how he played the game, but the way he did it. Tipperary loves its classy hurlers such as Jimmy Doyle, Nicky English, and Eoin Kelly, but we love our warrior hurlers even more who no matter the size of the challenge, the greater the rose to it.

The 2009 National League final comes to mind where, despite losing to Kilkenny after extra time in an epic game at Semple Stadium, it was the day Tipperary turned the corner, aided by the sprinkling of young stardust, including Padraic Maher who went toe to toe with Henry Shefflin who was at his peak.

If it were professional sports in the United States, the number 7 jersey would be retired in Padraic’s honour. He played at full back and centre back to various degrees of success, but left-wing back was always the position he was most at home, however, there was never anything more reassuring than with twenty minutes to go in a game, Maher being moved to centre back to shore up the middle.

His ability to leap like a salmon to catch a high ball with that bucket of a right hand was a sight to behold for a Tipperary supporter, as it was demoralising for an opposition player or fan. Then when he had the ball, he was so physically powerful, he relished breaking the tackle or tackles to be more precise, and he always had a good eye for a score as well.

For any great player, there are eye-catching plays. In terms of Padraic, for many it will be the huge shoulder on Joe Canning in the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park, which sent the Galway star flying over the side-line. However, there are also the unheralded ones, which top of the list was the 2019 All-Ireland final against Kilkenny when Tipperary, and indeed Padraic, were under the cosh in the opening quarter. Maher was then moved to right wing back from where he caught a puckout over the head of big Walter Walsh, from where the move ended up with Niall O’Meara scoring Tipp’s first goal which turned the game on its head.

While we would have liked to see Padraic Maher finish hurling on his own terms, but in terms of Tipperary, he departs at the top of the game. Sometimes there is a visible decline in a player’s performance, but we won’t remember that with Paudie, as he is known to all. He was still a class apart in his final game in the blue and goal against Waterford last year, as he was throughout his career for both Thurles Sarsfields and Tipperary.

Thanks for the memories Padraic!