IAN O'RIORDANtalks to Tipperary's industrious midfielder who believes if his team perform to their ability they will win

BRENDAN MAHER is one of those Tipperary hurlers who could be forgiven for thinking he’s young, indestructible, has it all ahead of him. He’s already won two All-Ireland minor titles, captaining Tipperary to victory in 2007, and won his first Munster senior title at age 20 – and even if he does lose Sunday’s All-Ireland final to Kilkenny, Maher has the under-21 final to look forward to, against Galway, just six days later. He even looks very young.

Yet he’s been around long enough to realise he can’t take anything for granted. Maher watched his older brother, Martin, break on to the Tipperary under-21 team a few years back, only for injury to stall his progress on to senior level. He gets constant reminders from the likes of Eoin Kelly and Brendan Cummins how quickly the years can pass – and got a reminder of another sort over the weekend when a wrist injury sustained in training briefly threatened his participation on Sunday.

Luckily for him that turned out to be nothing serious, and Maher will once again form half of Tipperary’s midfield pairing on Sunday, lining out alongside Shane McGrath. It’s a daunting task for both men, taking on the likes of Michael Fennelly and James “Cha” Fitzpatrick, but Maher sounds like he’s about to make every second count.

“It’s one thing I suppose, that people will say to you, ‘Ah, you’re young, you have lots of years ahead of you’. But I realise when you get the opportunity you have to take it. Lots of players have been hurt by injuries so hopefully I can stay away from them.

“Gearóid (Ryan) was unlucky, he had an injury before the Cork game, he had been flying it until then (at midfield). It’s hard to know what way things would have worked out.”

Indeed, but it’s worked out that Maher and McGrath have made Tipperary’s midfield area their own, even though McGrath was briefly tried at centre forward as part of the rebuilding process from the opening championship defeat to Cork: “Shane is one of the best midfielders in the country,” says Maher. “I suppose he is back to top form now. He’s a great asset, the engine of the team. It is definitely a big plus.

“Midfield is going to be some battle, but it has been the last couple of games. We’ve faced tough opponents, particularly the Galway and Waterford games. We came up against the form players this year, so we’re just looking to perform and work hard again.”

The Tipperary camp are aiming to concentrate on their own performance, and not worry about what Kilkenny will likely throw at them. But is it really that simple? Surely they must adopt tactics to counteract their opposition?

“Obviously you would look at their patterns of play,” Maher accepts. “But a lot of tactics go out the window on the day. We’ll analyse them, we’ll talk to each other about them, we’ll think about them, but at the end of the day, it’s all about our performance. We have that belief, that if we perform then we can win. It’s been proven so far this year, bar the first outing.”

Yes, that first outing: Tipperary’s heavy defeat to Cork back on May 30th. Were Tipperary complacent after such a strong showing in last year’s All-Ireland final?

“Personally, I wasn’t thinking that way,” says Maher. “The build up, we felt, had gone well. It was just one of those days. It has happened before and it will happen again. But it was definitely something we’ve learned from . . . After the Cork game we had to knuckle down. It was the kick up the arse we needed. We had to go a different route because of it, but we’re back where we want to be.

“It was just one of those days. Things didn’t go right for us, and they went right for Cork. They got all the breaks. But I’m a firm believer that you make your own luck, what you put into it you get out of it. They worked harder than us in the build up to the game and they deserved their win.

“After the Cork game the work that was put in on the training field reflected on the field and in our performances. From 1 to 30, everyone just worked as hard as they could and it was the best 15 got the jersey. There was no such thing as ‘he’ll be playing and he’ll be playing’. Nobody knew who was playing. Coming up to the Wexford game it was probably one of the first times we couldn’t name even 10 of the players that would start.”

Maher is one of eight players on the senior panel who have juggled with under-21 duties too this summer. “We’re used to it at this stage. We have to concentrate on the senior game first, and we’ll have six days to build up for the under-21 final. In fairness to Liam Sheedy, he does give us the few nights off after the senior games. And there is one big group there between the 21s and the seniors . . .”

So, to the question we’ve been asking all the Tipperary hurlers this week: how can they beat such an intimidating team as Kilkenny?

“We’re just concentrating on our performance. We’ve no All-Ireland medal in the pocket. That’s what we’re looking for this year. Whatever they’ll bring we’ll try and counteract it. But we believe if we can perform on the day we can beat anyone.”

That’s the sort of confidence that comes with being young, indestructible, and having it all ahead of you.

Brendan Maher

Position: Midfield

Club: Borrisoleigh

Age: 21 Occupation: Teacher

Honours: 2 All-Ireland MHC 2006, 2007 (captain); Munster MHC 2007; 2 Munster Under-21 HC 2008, 2010; Munster SHC 2009.