In the end, it was a difficult decision made easy by a chilling prospect that Pádraic Maher’s doctor put to him last Friday.
Stop hurling now and the chances are that the neck problem that only presented itself in recent months would cause no significant problems for the rest of his life.
But if he didn’t?
"The list was very eye-opening and he was listing off what the damage could be like,” explained Maher. “And, you know, when you're looking at the head and neck area…
“That way it was put to me, ‘Do you want your girlfriend lifting you off the couch and putting you to bed every night?’ That extreme.
“So when he started talking like that, this is a fairly black and white decision for me. But look, thankfully, the risk has been taken away now and with the bit of guidance from the medics going forward I hopefully have a perfectly healthy life to live.”
He has further appointments in the coming days to try and get to the root of the issue that bit more, but the neck issue only started bothering him as the Tipperary SHC came to a climax late last year.
“There is a fair chance, from what I told, it happened in training or something between the county semi-final and final because the symptoms arose a few days before the county final. So there is a fair chance I took a knock at training.
“The way we train with Sarsfields is fairly physical so there is a fair chance I got a knock there and whether it ruptured something then or made an old injury worse I don’t know but hopefully I’ll get a lot of answers in the following weeks.”
This time last week Maher was focused on sorting an ankle problem to allow him to rejoin full training with Tipperary and playing on for another year or two at that level before giving the club another few years after that. Now, all of a sudden, he’s played his last game for club and county.
“To be honest that’s probably the hardest thing in all of this,” he says of not even being able to play for Thurles Sarsfields again. “I’ve had 13 great years with Tipp and when I went back to the club I was really good at parking that.
“It’s unfortunate then, because usually when a player retires from inter-county he can go back and give a few years of service to his club. That is a tough pill to swallow, but I’ll always be involved and still be heavily involved.
“It will be very strange but I’ve had great times with the club as well and I can’t complain too much. But that’s life, that’s sport.”
His three All-Ireland medals put him in a group along with Declan Ryan and his now former teammates Brendan Maher, Noel McGrath, Seamus Callanan and Patrick Maher as the most decorated Tipperary hurlers of the last 50 years.
“The three All-Ireland days stand out most because they were just fantastic days and the aftermath, all of that, will stick in my mind forever.
“We also had other good days, I got to win a few Munster finals in Thurles and they will also stand out. There was a great atmosphere around, even winning the under-21 All-Ireland back in 2010 in Thurles with 20,000/25,000 people there was special that week in Tipperary.”
Maher marked some of the game’s all-time greats and more than held his own, though when quizzed about his most difficult opponents he reserved special mention for Kilkenny’s Richie Power.
“Richie would do it in any way. He would win the high ball, low ball, dirty ball and if you were 40 yards from goal, there was only one thing on his mind and that was to go for goal. He’d take you on and go straight down your throat and he always tested you.
“Another forward might hurl outside you and take the easy score and move on, but he was always testing you mentally so you had to get to the ball before him, because if he had it he was going to either draw a free off you or go around you so I always felt that he was one that tested me personally as much as anyone, and you kind of had to be on your game for those 70 minutes.
“But I got to play against some of the greatest players - Henry Shefflin, TJ Reid, Patrick Horgan, Joe Canning; these lads will go down as some of the greatest forwards ever so I’m lucky enough to have shared a field with them.”
His is one of those rare retirements that has sparked a flood of appreciation from across the GAA community for how he played and what he achieved, something that has taken the 32-year-old by surprise.
“It’s been amazing. I didn’t honestly expect to get the messages of support that I did. It goes to show the tight-knit community in the GAA. The messages were greatly complimentary and greatly appreciated.
“Some of them came from people you wouldn’t even think would be watching a game of hurling. I’m very grateful.”
Maher remains a competitive animal, however, and he will have to find a different outlet in which to channel those instincts now.
“I would have been fairly keen on golf when I was younger and as the GAA got more serious I would have pulled back. The golf clubs are there, I’d have to dust them off but I’ll get them back off.
“Squash and stuff, I’d love to be able to play but I’d have to speak with the medics again. I don’t know if I can be twisting or turning or moving my neck too sharply but there’s still loads for me to do between work and the coffee shop.
“I’ll be trying to get the handicap down as well, that’s for sure.”
It stood at 12 the last time he played.
“That’s well gone now and I’d be hoping to get back up to 18.”
It should drop sharply from there.
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