Maher leaves legacy for players to follow - Morris
By Shane Brophy
Jake Morris has said Padraic Maher has left a legacy for every player who wants to play for Tipperary to aspire to.
Speaking ahead of this Saturday’s Allianz Hurling League opener with Laois, the Nenagh Eire Og clubman said he and his teammates were shocked by Maher’s enforced retirement, only becoming aware themselves on Tuesday morning through the panel WhatsApp group, prior to the news going public.
“We are all very disappointing that Padraic has had to step away, but it is important to remember what he has done for Tipperary,” Morris said.
“For us as players will take a lot from his honesty levels, the way he looks after himself. He was such a good athlete and a warrior for Tipperary.
“What people don’t know about him would be the off-field stuff, the way he looked after himself and kept his body right. He was the best at doing that from what I have seen.
“I remember watching him in 2010 and he was a big hero of mine, and he still is. He has given everything to Tipperary, and he can hold his head up high.
“The best thing we can do now is carry on his levels of honesty, and the way he treated the Tipperary jersey, and he can be happy with that.”
Even prior to Maher’s retirement, and with Brendan Maher stepping away at the end of the last campaign, there was always going to be more emphasis on some of the younger brigade to take a leading role and Morris feels that they will.
“In terms of the younger generation, I wouldn’t be putting all that on them,” Morris added.
“We have competitive squad, and everyone needs to raise the levels a small bit and try and fill Paudie’s void because it will be big void but if we get up the standard of the way he trains and played, we will be in a good spot.
“It’s a hard step up to come from under 20/21 to senior, especially nowadays with the S&C that is involved in getting your body right for inter-county hurling, it is immense, so it is harder than some people think.
“The couple of years I am after playing is after helping me a lot with a lot of learnings from it and I feel more ready than I have been before.”
He added: “I am very happy with the way things are going in training. We always have a competitive bunch in Tipperary. Training has been going very well, we have been putting our heads down and are really looking forward to Laois next Saturday and getting a performance.”