‘CORK SUFFERING SYSTEM FAILURE’
Tipp legend Maher is no fan of Rebel tactics
TIPPERARY’S six time All-Star Pádraic Maher feels that Cork’s short possession game is stifling their progress, stating, ‘it’s not really hurling’.
The three-time All-Ireland winner thinks the Rebels’ gameplan is self-defeating as they face Clare at Semple Stadium on Sunday and try to bounce back from an 11-point defeat to Limerick in the first round of the Munster SHC.
‘The Cork style at the moment, I wouldn’t be a fan of it. I just don’t think… it’s not really hurling, like. It’s over and back the pitch, it’s going back the way. It’s not recycling.
‘The forwards they have, fair enough, play it through the lines up to a certain point of the pitch but then give your forwards good quality ball, good quick ball, that’s what they’re crying out for.’
A legend of the modern game over the course of a senior career that spanned three different decades until a neck injury forced his retirement earlier this season, the durable defender believes Cork are over-complicating things with a style of play that is ‘not the most attractive’ in his view. ‘I think every team, be it club or county, are playing through the lines now but I think some teams, where they’re getting caught is they’re overdoing it at certain stages and that’s where the likes of Limerick and these lads swarm you up. They just invite you in.
‘There’s certain times, we done it in the first half of the Munster final last year, sometimes you have to avoid all the chaos in the middle of the pitch and just get it into the full-forward line.
‘I wouldn’t be totally gone on the short style of the passing but I think there is a place for it in the game but I think you can marry that with a bit more direct ball into your forward line as well. That’s where Cork are getting caught at the moment and even Tipp got caught last week.
‘In fairness to Cork, even though it’s probably not the most attractive and hasn’t worked the last few weeks, they’re being coached like that the last two years. They’re very good at the short-passing game but I don’t think it’s as effective.’
Maher himself will do a half marathon this weekend, the Great Limerick Run, as he tries to fill the gap left by hurling.
“Their short passing is good but it’s not effective”
He admits it hasn’t been easy watching from the stand, especially after Tipperary’s hammering by Clare last Sunday in Semple. ‘As regards Tipp, they’re probably only getting used to this style of play at the moment and we mightn’t see the benefits of it for another 12 months maybe but it’s kind of tough, you have to stick with something. You can’t revert back to type. I know people back here at home who were at the Tipp match at the weekend were saying, “This is not the Tipp way” and it’s not the Tipp traditional way but I don’t know if going back to the full Tipp traditional way of hurling is going to work anymore because the reason teams are playing like this now is because it’s the winning style, Limerick and Waterford are getting good at it as well.’ zMaher was speaking to promote Darkness into Light, Pieta’s annual fundraising event.