Padraic Maher
Tipperary defender Pádraic Maher came out on top with a dominant victory in this week's GAA.ie Hurling Player of the Week vote.
The Thurles Sarsfields clubman produced a Man of the Match performance for the Premier County when they swept aside Cork in Sunday's GAA Munster Hurling Championship Quarter-Final at Semple Stadium.
For his powerful display from the wing-back position he was duly rewarded with an impressive 54 per cent of the votes cast on the GAA's official Twitter (@officialgaa), Facebook and Instagram pages.
That left him well clear of Dublin's Niall McMorrow in second place, with Offaly's Joe Bergin in third.
GAA.ie Hurling Player of the Week
1: Padraic Maher - 3399 (54 per cent)
**2: **Niall McMorrow - 1532 (24 per cent)
3: Joe Bergin - 1426 (22 per cent)
Tipperary had a number of candidates for this week's Hurling Player of the Week. Seamus Callanan, John O’Dwyer, and John McGrath excelled in their attack against Cork, and Brendan Maher drove them on from midfield.
But Pádraic Maher got the nod for an absolutely barn-storming display from wing-back that summed up why Tipp won the Munster SHC Quarter-Final so easily. Cork were shriveled by the Premier County’s superior physicality and determination, and no-one had more of those qualities than Maher.
His ball-winning ability in the middle third was inspirational, and his distribution to his forward-line was first-class. The Thurles Sarsfields man is an attacking threat himself from the wing-back position, and he underlined that as well with a brilliant first-half point.
In second-place with 24 per cent of the vote was Dublin's Niall McMorrow. The Ballyboden man has been turned from a midfielder into a centre-forward this year and that tactical switch has transformed the Dublin attack. Where once they had a broad-sword of a centre-forward in Ryan O’Dwyer, now they have a rapier in McMorrow.
He has a great knack for drifting into pockets of space, and when he does he is a steady finisher. He’s also an elusive, jinking runner, so even when he gets the ball in tight confines he has the ability to make room for himself to get a shot or pass away.
He scored four points for Dublin against Wexford on Saturday night, and his play-making ability also caught the eye. It’ll be very interesting to see how the Kilkenny defence handles him in the Leinster SHC Semi-Final.
Joe Bergin came in third with 22 per cent of the vote. Bergin played his 100th match for Offaly on Sunday and marked the occasion in some style as he scored 2-2 from play in the Faithful County’s 3-19 to 0-20 victory over Kerry.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Seir Keiran man was the difference between the two teams. Kerry matched Offaly in all other areas of the park, but they just did not have the sort of cutting edge in the full-forward line that Bergin provided.
His two goals second-half goals effectively decided the game and were classics of the ‘big man on the edge of the square’ genre. But Bergin is much more than just a big man, he’s a very skilful hurler too, and his finishing bore the class we have come to expect from him since he made his senior inter-county debut in 2006.
Players of the Week are decided based on votes cast by followers of @officialgaa on Twitter, on the Official GAA Facebook Page and on the Official GAA Instagram page
