MAHER REVEALS FEARS OVER DREAM YEAR
TIPPERARY star Brendan Maher feared he had ruptured his cruciate ligament for a second time during his rehab from the dreaded injury last year. Maher’s fairytale comeback saw him play a pivotal role in Tipperary’s All-Ireland SHC win last year, win a third All-Star and lead Borrisoleigh to a first All-Ireland club final. But the 31-year-old said he feared for his season when he suffered a setback following surgery to repair the injury he sustained in 2018 against Clare. ‘Three or four months in I gave it a little hyperextension. It gave such a crunch, I thought, “I am after doing it again. I don’t want to be facing into surgery again.” I was 100pc negative about it. ‘It took me two days before I rang the physio because I was so low. I went to the physio and he tested it and it was fine and he explained that it was just a little flare-up,’ Maher told the GPA podcast, Players Voices. And the Tipperary star also revealed that the injury he suffered against Clare was more serious than he had made public. ‘I had meniscus damage, tendon damage and all these other little things. ‘I can still remember what the doctor said to me. He rang me after the MRI, and just said “Your knee is a bit of a mess”.’ Maher also said that he is set to be reunited with the broken hurley with which he scored an iconic point with in January’s All-Ireland club semi-final win over St Thomas’. ‘After I scored the point I threw it over my shoulder into the open stand in the Gaelic Grounds. ‘Several weeks passed and I had given up on it when I got a letter from a young fellow in Gort saying he had the hurley. ‘I wrote a letter back and I told him I would send him a hurley and a few bits and then his mother rang me all apologetic, saying she never knew I wanted the hurley back. ‘So we arranged to meet but then the lockdown happened so they still have it but hopefully I will get it back at some stage during the summer,’ said Maher.