Colm Bonnar has to plan for league campaign without Padraic and Brendan Maher

THE shock announcement that Padraic Maher has been forced to retire due to injury overshadowed the build up to Tipperary's opening Allianz League Division 1 league game away to Laois in O'Moore Park on Saturday evening next.

New Tipperary manager Colm Bonnar spoke to the media on Tuesday morning and admitted it came as a surprise to everyone.

“He was all ready to go. He was just giving himself a couple of weeks to build up and get a bit of prehab done with John Casey and in the meantime he received medical advice about his neck injury and was advised to stop all contact sport. It was a complete shock to him, and to us. We only found out over the weekend that there could be something coming. It’s heartbreaking for him because he had more to offer. Looking at him in the club championship and with Tipp last year, he was still a towering strength in the back line, and he knew that himself so that’s why it’s so heartbreaking that he has to step away. But he’s had a great hurling career over the past 13 years that he can be so proud of and I wish him all the best in his retirement,” said the manager.

“He put a message into the players Whatsapp group this morning, so it happened very, very quickly. And in fairness to Padraic, the type of man he is, he didn’t want it to be hanging over himself or the team so he felt he needed to make an announcement and move on. It was always his dream to play for Tipperary and it’s something he cherished every moment of it and that’s going to be something that’s really missing in the dressing room.”

Following on from the earlier retirement of Brendan Maher, Tipperary now have some big boots to fill.

“When you talk about those two players in particular, you talk about leaders and warriors,” Colm said. “Both of the lads were hugely consistent in their performances and in the heat of battle, they were never found wanting, so they are big shoes to fill for any player coming through. But that is where the challenge is for the younger players. We feel we have a young, hungry, dynamic group of players that have won All-Irelands, who are chomping at the bit to get in there. Look, it would have been great to have Brendan and Padraic in there to educate these players and bring them under their wing but they’ll just have to find their feet quickly.”

Seamus Callanan is staying on for another year so he will be an important asset.

“Seamus was one of the first players we met and we were obviously eager to see where his head was at and what were his plans because it’s always a player's choice to play for Tipperary. We might want a player in with us, but they have to step forward and make that decision themselves. We had a very good chat with Seamie back in early November and it worked from there. He’s been doing modified training for the last three months really, just building up gradually and he’s been at all our training sessions and he’s as mad for road as any of the younger lads. He would have played his first match with us just last Friday. So we’re starting to see the work that he has done and he still feels he has an awful lot to offer Tipperary, as do we as a management team and it’s great to have him onboard.”

The manager was asked in Tipp are now in a rebuilding phase?
“There was always going to be a small rebuilding phase and that’s the same for an intercounty team. Nobody can last forever in the sense that you can’t hold onto a place indefinitely. We are in a situation where there are opportunities arising for some of the younger players and when you look at lads who won All-Irelands in 2016 and 2019, they found it very hard to knock the likes of Brendan Maher and Paidi Maher off their perch, but they were hugely quality players and that makes it hard to break into the team. But when players step away, it gives lads opportunities and we will be taking a good look at the newer players and a number of them will be getting opportunities next Saturday. It’s going to be a journey for them that starts with Laois.”

The new management have brought some new players onto the panel. “It’s all about the connection the players build up with each other. We still have a nice mix of experienced players and younger players, and we’ve brought in six or seven new players onto the panel this year, and my biggest role is about building the connection and trust between the players which does take time, so that’s a work in progress. I’m very impressed with the level of ability and character of those younger players that are coming through, and how much they want to play for Tipperary. They have perfect examples in Brendan and Padraic Maher in how they represented Tipperary so they’re blessed in that sense so this is their chance now. They are looking for responsibility and they are looking for ownership so we’re enjoying it at the moment.”

Following the All-Ireland U-21 and U-21 wins in 2018 and 2019 supporters expected more of those players to come through so is it now time for them to step up?

“Sometimes people think that when players win U-20 or U-21 titles the very next year, you’re expected to play senior and that it’s an automatic transition. It does take two or three years to develop the type of players that can take the big impacts. I’ve been noticing some of the tackles and impacts some of the players have had during the last few games, and I’m surprised that they can get back up after them, and if they didn’t have some of the strength and conditioning work on board that they’ve developed over the last two or three years they wouldn’t be getting back up to quickly. There’s a massive amount of work gone into the players over the last few years.”

One of those returning to the panel is Lorrha's Patrick Bonner Maher. “The minute I was announced as manager, he was the first call I got. He wanted to know what he needed to do to be involved. This was back in late September so that just shows you how much he loves hurling for Tipperary. He’s had a very interrupted career over the last three years, but I’ve been talking to John Casey and he said he’s never seen anybody to get through an injury, and the fact that he’s back playing Fitzgibbon hurling already is a minor miracle. So he’s building into it nicely and he’s massively respected among the group so I’m delighted we have the calibre of player like him involved.”

Looking to the year ahead he said “we’re not talking about All-Irelands or Munster titles, or anything like that at the minute. Obviously, any player’s dream is to get to Croke Park and to win but we have to try and manage those expectations and keep it real in terms of what’s in front of us and try not to get caught up in the mindset that we have to win an All-Ireland. What the players have to do is bring their best game every time they come to training and really, that’s the only way to hurl because it’s what allows you to enjoy yourself so if we start throwing obstacles in front of players and telling them they have to do this and that, it breaks down their skill levels. So we’re just trying to build the players up slowly.”

Are you under pressure given the twin demands of rebuilding a team and being competitive at the same time?

“If I was worried about pressure, I wouldn’t have taken on this job. This is a challenge I’m loving. Being a Tipperary man, putting on that jersey; it’s a part of my DNA. Pressure doesn’t come into my head at all. If I start focusing on having to win All-Irelands and having to achieve specific things I’m only going to bring pressure on myself and the team. It’s a work in progress at the end of the day, and I’m excited to see where this journey is going to end because the hurlers we have have huge belief and my job is to try and get it out of them.”

By the end of the league Colm said he would “like to think that I’ll have a team and a panel together. I want to see a group of players that have taken ownership and have committed to each other and built connections as a group through fighting hard on the pitch. Obviously, we’re going to be judged on the outside world by results, but my philosophy is that you should always enjoy hurling. For anyone to be given the chance to be going to Thurles on a Tuesday or Saturday or whatever, with the best players in the county and doing what you love to do and that’s the journey I want for them.”

He'll have to start the campaign without Padraic Maher as part of his plans, so how would he rate him in the ranks of Tipp hurlers.

“When I look at the team I played on that won a couple of All-Irelands did we have anyone of the calibre of that? I don’t think we had. He would have walked onto that team and would have walked onto most teams, that’s how good he was. I would say if you had to pick the top backs who represented Tipperary over the last 100 years, you couldn’t but name him. He’s won six All-Stars which just shows the esteem he is held in by everyone. I would have loved for him to be a part of the team I played in ‘89 and ‘91 that’s for sure.”