Every team has standout performers. Just as individual sports are usually possessed of competitors who assume more elevated status than that of their contemporaries. For Exhibit A of that, look no further than the Dublin football half back line of the mid 1990s, comprising Paul Curran, Keith Barr and Eamon Heery. If you’re looking for a candidate to act as an Exhibit B, there are few who could stand up to comparison with Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard recently having annexed his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
Today, Tipperary, and the entire game of hurling salutes a man bowing out that absolutely merits accreditation in both categories. Padraic Maher was not only one of the finest defenders the game has seen in decades, he was a vital cog in one of the meanest rearguard units forwards have had to try and circumnavigate in a very long time too.
The hugely successful Thurles Sarsfields clubman said in a statement: “It is not the end I would have wished for, but the time has come for me to announce my retirement from hurling,” read a statement from Maher released by the Tipperary county board this morning.
“Unfortunately, I recently received medical advice regarding a neck injury, and I have been advised to step away from contact sport. It is heartbreaking to have to make this decision, but it’s the most important one for me and my health moving forward”.
Maher stepping away is something of an end of an era for the Premier County. The white-helmeted star was once of the most versatile and Influential hurlers in this or perhaps any generation. In a county famed for the production of teak tough, ruthlessly efficient defensive units – none better than those famously dubbed ‘Hell’s Kitchen’.
Padraic Maher, along with his brother Ronan, namesake Brendan – equally as adaptable and classy – as well as Cathal Barrett, Seamus Kennedy and Michael Breen (before his redeployment to midfield) formed a platoon for the trenches every bit as stringent in their protection of their domain.
With the greatest of respect to the others in the current incarnation, Padraic Maher was the fulcrum thereof. While there are good hurlers still in situ and the Premier County always likely to produce classy hurlers, but regardless of who else is there, there will be one large void to be filled.
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