IN ALL FAIRNESS - Thanks Liam, Thanks Brendan

The inter-county careers of both Liam Sheedy and Brendan Maher have almost gone hand in hand over the last sixteen years and it was fitting that both exited the inter-county stage around the same time.

Liam Sheedy was a man passionate about Tipperary hurling and when his playing days ended in 2000, including playing in the 1997 All-Ireland final defeat to Clare, he immediately turned his hands to coaching and at the age of just 32 became Tipperary intermediate manager in 2002 and immediately had success winning a Munster title before losing to Galway in the All-Ireland Final.

When Nicky English stepped down in 2002 and Michael Doyle was installed as his successor, and Sheedy was one of the men brought on board as a selector in that ill-fated campaign which saw Tipp well-beaten by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final.

With Doyle’s regime lasting just one year, Sheedy wasn’t hurt by that experience and came back in late 2004 when he was named minor manager and is where his path first crossed with Brendan Maher. Despite being just fifteen years of age, Maher was one of those prodigies that was tipped for the top from a very young age, much like what Eoin Kelly was, and in fairness to him, he lived up to that billing and more. Many players who are classed as such are unable to cope with the pressure of the expectation of elements of the Tipp support that expect him to be great, but Maher wasn’t one of them.

He was so mature for his age. I remember seeing Maher playing for the first time in the 2005 North Senior Final for Borris-Ileigh against Nenagh Eire Og when he was just sixteen. He scored four points, three from play, as the maroons ended a seventeen year wait for their latest North title. Borris-Ileigh manager Ger O’Neill stating after the game; “I’d give a special mention to young Brendan Maher. I think he will really have to be minded in North Tipp, because he is an absolute super young hurler and could be something special.” Well, Ger, from the O’Neill clan in Cappawhite who know a thing or two about hurling, was spot on and what a special player he was to become.

Brendan’s greatness was mainly down to him being the ultimate team player and leader. In 2006 when Tipperary were defeated in the Munster minor final by Cork, Liam Sheedy recalls the next training session in Dr Morris Park before the All-Ireland quarter final where Maher, despite not being captain, came into his own as a leader in getting the group going again.

His next greatest trait was his selflessness for the cause. In that same campaign, Brendan started out in midfield but by the time of the All-Ireland final, he had been relocated to a problem area of corner back and was outstanding in that final win where he along with Michael Cahill and Padraic Maher completely snuffed out a Joe Canning Galway side that were going for three-in-a-row.

There aren’t many players that are willing to sacrifice themselves for the team, but Brendan Maher was one of them. Whether it was corner back, wing back, centre back, midfield, or indeed in the half forward line for a short spell in 2011, ‘have hurley will play’ was always Maher’s mantra, as was seen in his three All-Stars, the first in 2009 in midfield where he was young hurler of the year also, while winning his other two in 2016 and 2019 from wing back.

Whether the stars aligned when Liam Sheedy came back in late 2018, I’m no astrologer but it’s hard to think that All-Ireland would have been won without Sheedy and Maher. The pressure was on Sheedy after coming back for a second stint and be the one to deliver a third All-Ireland in the decade which would be the least Tipp would have deserved for the hurling they produced in that time.

In that campaign, coming back from a serious knee injury, Brendan Maher was outstanding, right from the moment he claimed a high ball against Cork, bursting forward to shoot a long-range point which nearly raised the roof at the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

That selflessness returned with Sheedy turning to Maher when it came to tackling the marquee forward the opposition team from Austin Gleeson, to Tony Kelly, to Aaron Gillane, to Rory O’Connor and finally TJ Reid, I don’t believe Maher lost any of those individual battles in that campaign.

What he did later that year in helping Borris-Ileigh to county and Munster titles will go down in legend but there is no doubt that he lived up to his billing and deserves every ounce of the plaudits he is getting.

For Liam Sheedy, he loves defying the odds and to say he came back and was equally as successful in his first term as he was in his second in terms of winning the ultimate prize, will mark his down as a managerial great, and like Maher, it was never about him, it was always the team. Thanks lads!