Brendan Maher pictured ahead of the Allianz Hurling League Final on Sunday.
By Cian O'Connell
Brendan Maher needs one medal to complete the inter-county set. Munster and All Ireland titles have been secured during a decorated career for Tipperary, but Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League decider against Kilkenny matters deeply now.
The versatile Borris-Ileigh clubman continues to deliver in the blue and gold, but the Nowlan Park decider carries intrigue.
“It is very important, I suppose you can look at it two ways,” Maher admits. “We are maybe in bonus territory to a certain extent because ultimately the Championship is the be all and end all for you, but when you get to a final you want to win it.
“For us, personally not having a medal is huge. This is the fifth final we've played in, we have lost the previous four so you have a lot of lads in that case.
“Then you have some guys, it is their first final so there is a lot going on within the group. Lads will have different thoughts on how big this game is. We have been approaching every game to try to win it, there has been that process week on week. We do the same thing, prepare the same way.
“We are going to try to stick to that this week, not to make it any different really. It is a final, but we are approaching it the same way we have approached the other games and ultimately we want to try to win it.”
Tipperary have quietly integrated young hurlers during the spring with 34 seeing action so far in the competition. Maher acknowledges that a high pressure match in Nowlan Park offers an ideal opportunity to assess where Tipperary are placed ahead of the Munster Championship.
Brendan Maher remains a key player for Tipperary.
“What we are going to experience on Sunday is different,” Maher admits. “A few lads have been lucky enough to be involved in the games back in '13, that qualifier game.
“The atmosphere down there is electric. A big game like this in front of possibly a full house is going to be a valuable experience.
“Obviously you want the outcome to be positive coming into the Championship. We had a bad League Final last year and that did knock us back a bit. We trained really hard during the League and it just hit us hard then.
“We had nothing in us and we learned. We made a mistake and we learned from that and we are trying to make sure it doesn't happen this year so we can get a good performance on Sunday. Hopefully that will get us a win to set us up nicely for the Championship.”
Jason Forde has struck 5-60 so far in the League and Maher is impressed with how the Silvermines attacker is developing into a key performer for the Premier County.
“I think Jason himself would tell you, he put in a savage pre-season physically,” Maher says. “He did an awful lot of work and he trimmed up.
“Physically, he's in unbelievable shape. He's always had savage skill. I remember watching him playing schools hurling, he was untouchable.
“He's always had that and I suppose he was just maybe missing that extra thing that he was lacking. He would have said himself it was a little bit of fitness maybe at times and he put in a savage winter. I think he gave three months on his own training plan outside of ours. He's getting his just reward now and he's in great form and I hope it continues.”
