TIPP LEGEND MAHER KNOWS PRESSURE OF SEMIS

Karl O'KANE

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"It's strange. It's a funny stat when you think back on the 13 years playing with Tipperary. Every All-Ireland final you played in was against Kilkenny and every Munster Final we won was against Waterford (five).

“Before 19 I was thinking are we going to play anyone but Waterford in Munster Finals.”

They lost two Munster Finals to Limerick — 2019 and 2021 — and it's hard to believe that Tipperary haven't played at Croke Park since 2019 — all of six years ago.

After a disastrous 2024 season, Tipperary fans are back on cloud nine again with Championship victories over Clare, Waterford and Galway - a draw with Limerick - more than most people anticipated.

There was considerable heat on manager Liam Cahill after Tipp exited last year's Championship with a whimper — but his belief that he was the right man for the job never wavered.

“Youd have to admire Liam for the way he's handled this,” says Maher. “That wasn't an easy year last year. I suppose he probably had a lot of things to do himself around personnel.

“They made some changes, even some adjustments to the backroom team that had a huge positive impact this year.

“He made some difficult decisions and that's not easy when you are in the position that you are in.

“You talk to any previous Tipperary manager, it's a highly scrutinised job. I think he dealt with it very well. I am delighted to see that. Hopefully, if they can get a result it would be huge to get into an All-Ireland Final.

“Even aside from the result on Sunday, there's been huge progress made this year. Youd just be delighted for both the players involved and also the management team.