“We thought we had a divine right to win.”
Paudie Maher is one of the old stagers of the Tipperary squad. Paudie Maher is 27.
At the age of 21, the Thurles Sarsfield star added a senior All-Ireland winners’ medals to three he had captured at minor and U21 grade. Four years, four titles, no bother.
That same year, Tipperary’s U21s claimed another All-Ireland crown. Tipperary versus Kilkenny looked set to be a battle for the ages. Instead, it was a Cats procession.
On Sunday, Tipperary blew a team aside that few could realistically label as their rivals. Even Tipp’s most fervent fans could not claim that.
Sunday was different though. Michael Ryan’s side dismantled the reigning champions and played with such panache and fearlessness that belied the six-year drought that had dogged the team all the way to Croker.
If 2010 was a false dawn this feels like the start of something special for Tipperary | @me_staffordhttps://t.co/ii3dzJIaJe
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) September 4, 2016
Speaking to Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour Hurling Show, Maher spoke openly and frankly about the Premier County failing to kick on from their 2010 All-Ireland win and why he can’t see that happening again. He said:
“It could have been us getting carried away with ourselves.
“2010 was so successful that maybe we thought we had a divine right to win a couple more. We didn’t realised, at such a young age, how hard it was going to be to get back there.
“But, look, Kilkenny have always been the team to stop us. Apart from Galway last year, Kilkenny have always been the ones that caught us on the hop. We’ve always been on the wrong side of the results so we are absolutely thrilled to get over them.”
The defender paid specific tribute to Tipperary coach Ryan and the stamp he has put on the team since taking over from Eamon O’Shea. “He just wants you to go and be yourself… play off yer own instinct,” he commented.
The Tipperary public demand the Liam MacCarthy every year, says Maher, and they have ‘every right to’. If the 2017 Allianz League campaigns gets off to a slow start, he expects to hear about it.
Maher, as a youthful-looking ‘senior’ squad player, was asked what he would have for younger squad members, such as Seamus Kennedy, John McGrath and Ronan, his brother. He replied:
“I’ll be looking for advice off them!
“There are like us when we came through in 2009, 2010. No fear; carefree attitude; go play and enjoy it.
“If I have any advice for them, it’s keep that way. Don’t get caught up. We probably got caught up in 2011, 2012. The likes of Brendan [Maher], myself and Noel [McGrath], that group of lads. The weight, that whole thing, got on our backs.
“I know I took it too personal, if that makes sense? I’d just say to the lads ‘Enjoy it, come back next year the same way and play every game the same way’.”
Maher feels Tipperary may have ‘wasted six long years’ but he is determined to make up for lost time and lost trophies.
He’s not the only one.
You can listen to the full interview with Maher here [starts from the 15-minute mark]:
