Brendan Maher outlines how Patrick 'Bonner' Maher gained cult hero status in Tipperary
Brendan Maher and Patrick 'Bonner' Maher played for Tipperary from under-14 up, winning All-Irelands at every grade.
Brendan Maher has hailed the “absolute grit” of Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher after the Tipperary legend announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.
Maher, who hurled with his namesake from under-14 level up with Tipp as the duo won All-Irelands at minor, under-21 and senior level, says ‘Bonner’ “only had one gear - top gear.”
Fans favourite Maher (34) hurled for 16 seasons with Tipperary, winning two All Stars.
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His retirement means that Noel McGrath is the only member of Tipp’s 2010 All-Ireland winning team, which derailed Kilkenny’s ‘drive for five,’ still operating at inter-county level.
Lorrha-Dorrha club man Maher made his Tipperary debut in 2009, going on to win five Munster titles (2009, ’11, ’12, ’15, ’16) in a hugely successful career.
“I was messaging him and I said, I don’t know if there are even words to describe how good of a team mate he was and the impact he made on the teams I was involved with," says Brendan Maher.
“The way he played and trained, he didn’t need to say a thing. People probably will never have heard Bonner speak over the years - despite him being involved in multiple All-Irelands and different big games.
“He was just a man for keeping the head down and working really hard. He was everything you’d look for in a team mate and a player, to be honest.”
Maher says 'Bonner' was “a phenomenal athlete," adding, “Who doesn’t love a fella that literally only knows one direction - and there's no stopping him."
He continued: “It almost sounds like it’s something negative - he had one gear, and it was top gear.
“He was 100mph all the time and it was the same in training. Trying to get him to take a night off was the hardest job any coach or S and C had.
“I remember meeting him in preseason in different years. He could be running 20 kms on a Saturday and coming in and doing a conditioning session on a Sunday with Tipp.
“The energy the man had is just unbelievable. That’s what people saw. I think he just brought great energy to the pitch, regardless of whether it was from the start or as an impact sub over the last few years.
“It’s a talent in itself to be able to do what he did for so long. You got the same all the time, and it’s that consistency that has made him the player that he has been. I don’t think we will see anyone like him for a long time.”
Maher says that ‘Bonner’ spent hours doing extra training, starting out with one on ones with former Tipperary coach and manager, Eamon O’Shea.
“He would probably say himself he got the best out of himself and he will admit that from a technical standpoint, he wasn’t naturally gifted as a hurler,” he said.
“He had to work really hard to get his hurling up to the level required to perform at inter-county level and I saw that first hand. You started to see it come and improve.
“When you were going into battle on the big days, you wanted Bonner by your side for the way he was able to deliver for us. It was as simple as that.
“I think the way he played had a huge impact on the supporters. Who doesn’t love a fella that literally only knows one direction and there’s no stopping him.
“With lots of players you say, maybe they could have got more out of themselves and you’d wonder if they had done more of this, but with Bonner you could safely say he got the absolute most out of himself.
“That was just through hard work and absolute grit and not without his fair share of challenges along the way. He has a couple of serious inquiries - the achilles, the ACL - the resilience he showed to come back again and again.
“It was unbelievable. It was a credit to him as a person. It just shows the character of the man.”
Maher was a key disrupter and combatent as Tipperary halted Brian Cody’s Kilkenny machine in its tracks.
The three Mahers - Patrick, Pádraic and Brendan - Michael Cahill and Noel McGrath were the famous five who landed senior and under-21 All-Ireland titles in the space of a week back in 2010.
“2010, Bonner seemed to come out of nowhere, but we would have known him,” says Brendan. “He was never a player to get the recognition until he wore the senior jersey.
“I think everything we tried to do in terms of matching the physicality and intensity of Kilkenny, Bonner epitomised that in the way he played and by the way he played that day (2010 All-Ireland final).
“He was a nightmare to mark and I think anyone that has marked him will tell you the same. Even when you win a ball off him, you couldn’t get rid of him.
“He would just never give up and never stop. His fitness was probably one of his biggest attributes, in terms of who was top of the charts in fitness testing with Tipperary over the years. He was always up there.
“Phenomenal endurance and a will to stay going. He brought that onto the pitch and I don’t think you could ever think of a game where he wasn’t physically at the races.
“He always seemed to be moving well, tackling hard, running until the final whistle.
“That was I suppose what we tried to bring to our game, that physicality and intensity to match Kilkenny at that time. Bonner just epitomised that.
“Wouldn’t it have been very easy for him to step aside when he got injured. He was 32 years of age there, trying to come back from a serious injury. I think it’s the mark of the man that he just had it in him to find a reason and a purpose to get back.
“He has just amazed me really, the physicality of him still and the way he moves around the pitch.”
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