By John Harrington

Brendan Maher admits Tipperary’s losing record to Kilkenny in recent years is a monkey on the Premier County’s back.

Since beating the Cast in the 2010 All-Ireland Final, they’ve subsequently lost to them four times in the Championship, including two All-Ireland Finals, and in two League Finals as well.

Another defeat to their great rivals in Sunday’s All-Ireland Final would deepen the sense that Kilkenny have this Tipperary team’s number.

“Look, there’s no point saying it’s not a monkey on the back, it is,” says Tipp captain Maher. “I’m just glad we have another opportunity now to play against them again, to have a crack at them.

“It’s two years since we played them in the championship and I’m just glad we’re back and have a chance to prove ourselves again against the best, and there’s no doubt that Kilkenny have been the best - possibly of all time, but certainly of the last ten years, or since I started playing.

“It’s just great to play them because if you beat them now in an All-Ireland you know you’ve earned it, you deserve to be All-Ireland champions.”

Tipperary manager Michael Ryan has said the common thread that links all of his county’s recent defeats to the Cats was that they couldn’t cope with the sheer intensity Kilkenny brought to bear on the contest. If they’re to halt that trend of defeats they need to match Kilkenny’s work-rate, particularly in the middle-third of the pitch where Maher operates.

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “I think it comes in training and trying to replicate those situations in training as much as possible and getting yourself mentally ready for that as much as physically.

“It is so repetitive and it's so relentless in that middle third, you really just have to be fully tuned in and be able to cope with that for 70-plus minutes or however long you're on the field.

“It's definitely something that we have worked on. The way the game has changed, that middle third, there's a lot of numbers. It's different to the old traditional game I suppose.

“Yeah, I think, look, we battled well against Galway but whether we had the right amount of numbers in around there, we were outnumbered a lot. We need to look at that and make sure we have it rectified for the next day.”

Encouragement for Tipperary can be sourced from the fact that their new-look midfield partnership of Maher and Michael Breen has excelled so far this year.

Breen’s physical strength, speed and ability scoring ability has given them a new dimension, and Maher looks far more at home now that he’s back in midfield after spells in the half-forward and half-back line.

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “I can only speak for myself. I definitely feel a lot happier in my own skin because I know that's where I'm playing.

“I went through a couple of years where I was changing from half-back, midfield, half-forward last year. I was kind getting different roles so it's hard to prepare. It's a different challenge.

“Your versatility goes against you. It's good to be a versatile player but in those situations when you can get moved, when a problem arises somewhere when you're a versatile player, it's always like you're chosen to go and try and fix the problem. I'm happy.

“Mick has shown a lot of trust in me to pick me and just leave me at midfield this year and I'm trying to repay that trust he's put in me as much as possible.”

There’s a very solid look about this Tipperary team this year and new manager Michael Ryan must take some of the credit for that. He’s blended in young players like Breen, John McGrath, Seamus Kennedy, Ronan Maher, and Dan McCormack to good effect, and rejuvenated others like Maher and Paudie Maher by playing them in their best positions.

He’s also given them a very defined and direct game-plan that so far has worked very well.

“Mick is very honest and he's very definite with what he wants you to do,” says Maher. “He gives you the message and if you can deliver he repays you and if you can't deliver it's someone else's opportunity, that's the way it is.

“He has been true to his word on picking the panels of 26. I think we haven't had the same 26 for two games in-a-row or any two games all year so there's fierce competition there. Lads know going into training they have to perform but that's just the strength of the panel.

“There was probably years where Tipp were going in and you knew you were guaranteed a place on the panel and maybe some lads got comfortable. But this year, when it's only 26, that's only 11 subs, and any of those 11 subs can get game time.

“As you see, we've been using different players. Then the other side of that is then we're doing our best to hold on to our jersey and you know if you see a lad in your position and he's playing, the boys are going to repay him and you need to make sure, 'I'm not going to be the one that he's going to take the place of'.”