EIGHT Kerry players featured as RTE's star-studded line-up pick Sunday Game Team of the Year
The panel made up of Paul Flynn, Cora Staunton, Tomás Ó Sé, Enda McGinley, Mark McHugh and Ciarán Whelan were given the responsibility of selecting the team following
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The panel had some tough decisions to make, especially in defence
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The Kerry contingent dominated the team following their 1-26 to 0-19 win over Donegal
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Enda McGinley: "Shane Ryan gets the nod in a year that goalkeepers took up so much chat at the start of the National League with the change of rules.
"People were thinking they were going to be done away with in terms of losing all their ability to do short kickouts.
"Goalies like himself have shown their value his ability to kick off left and right foot and being able to find those pockets.
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The full-back line was made up of three out and out full-backs in Meath's Sean Rafferty, Kerry's Jason Foley and Donegal's Brendan McCole.
The half-back line featured both of Kerry's wing backs in
Donegal's Ciarán Moore and Finnbar Roarty were the two players who were singled out by the panel to be unlucky not to make it into the defence of the team.
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The panel were particularly impressed with Roarty who was Man of the Match against Meath in the semi-final.
Two-time All-Star Ciarán Whelan praised: "Finnbarr Roarty in corner-back, he had a brilliant year.
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"For a 19-year-old to come in and the experience he showed right throughout the year he slotted into that Donegal team, he was massively influential.
Donegal legend Mark McHugh added: "I think he is a shoe-in for young player of the year."
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The midfield "picked itself" as Joe O'Connor partners Michael Langan, one from either side of the All-Ireland finalists.
Despite a poor season from the Orchard county with a shock exit against the eventual winners of the Sam Maguire Cup, Conaty had some great individual performances.
The full-forward line was "one of the easiest lines to pick" as David Clifford, Michael Murphy and Conor O'Donnell were immense all season.
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Cora Staunton was complimentary of the attackers saying: "David Clifford scored 8-62 in championship, the highest scorer from two-pointers. He's just the greatest of all-time.
"Murphy was Donegal's leader throughout. A bit of a quieter game in the final as opposed to the semi-final but he was their top-scorer.
"I thought O'Donnell was immense. Man of the Match in the quarter-final, could have been the same in the semi-final. Again today he was one of their top performers."
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Irish Daily Mirror
11 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tipp captain Ronan Maher on his mural screensaver and joining a wall of legends
It had been so long since they had reason to update it, the paintwork on the famous Thurles Sarsfields mural had become rather patchy. So, no sooner had Ronan Maher's portrait been hastily added alongside his eight clubmates as an All-Ireland winning captain last week than it was temporarily removed as part of a bigger redecorating process. 'They're redoing it all up now,' he says. 'The whole clubhouse has actually been painted, and they're repainting all the signs, so it'll be really cool to be walking in training now and see it.' The first All-Ireland winning captain from anywhere came from Thurles Sarsfields, with Jim Stapleton leading Tipperary to victory in the inaugural Championship of 1887. Yet, Stapleton only took over as captain for the final victory over Galway. The skipper up to then had been Denis Maher, who stepped down from the role due to a fallout over travelling expenses for the final. Denis was Ronan's great-grandfather. Tom Semple, after whom the stadium in Thurles is named, captained Tipp to the 1906 and '08 All-Irelands, while another Sars man, John Joe Callanan, became the first man from the county to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 1930. Clubmate Jimmy Lanigan was the second in 1937, with John Maher, Ronan's granduncle, the third in 1945. Tony Wall maintained the club tradition in 1958 and it was further embellished by Jimmy Doyle (1962 and '65) and Michael Murphy (1964). So, Ronan Maher became the ninth different Thurles Sarsfields man to captain Tipperary to All-Ireland honours last month, and the first in 60 years. But, in an era where players drone on about the process and having eyes only for the next game, Maher had a wider gaze. Indeed, a doctored version of the wall was the screensaver on his phone. 'I had a blank picture beside the rest of the captains up there, and it was just an arrow pointing to it, and I suppose I had a few words underneath, and what my visualisation was, and that was basically it. That was one of Cathal's great skills.' That's Cathal Sheridan, the former Munster rugby player and now sports psychologist, who was also part of Kerry's All-Ireland winning football set up this year. 'When I met him in '24, he asked me what my visualisation was,' Maher explains. 'It was to walk up to Hogan Stand, to lift Liam MacCarthy, but also to have my picture up on the Thurles Sarsfields wall as well, with the rest of the legends, and to walk into the clubhouse with Liam MacCarthy with all my family and friends there, and that was exactly what happened on the Monday night. 'The centre was packed out and everybody from Thurles, outside of Thurles, was there, and it was just a dream come true. But I had it set as my screensaver, yeah, for the two years. It's hard to believe that it's actually come to life now.' Aviva Insurance Ireland have announced their new partnership with ClubberTV. At the launch in Aviva Stadium was Tipperary and Thurles Sarsfields star Ronan Maher. See to catch this weekend's highlights of club games across Ireland. (Image: Inpho) And yet, there's a certain poignancy for him in that his brother, Pádraic, who captained Tipp before him and was forced into retirement in 2022, didn't make the wall before him. 'I always thought that Pádraic should have been going up on it in '17 and '18, and that hits home as well, and it's one thing you think about, and I suppose you think you're so lucky to be going up there. He was one of our best leaders ever to wear a Tipp jersey, and in '17 and '18, we thought we'd be getting him up on the wall, but unfortunately we didn't and things didn't go according to the plan, so that just makes it more special I suppose, and the achievement that it is. 'It'll take a while before it hits home, but I'm born and raised in Thurles and I'll be there for the rest of my life. It'll be nice to look at down the line.' And, for all that, Maher feared that manager Liam Cahill would relieve him of the captaincy after the 2024 season was such a washout. Instead, he doubled down on his faith in him last winter. 'He just said, 'You're going to lift silverware this year' and he shook my hand and he said, 'Go do it' and that was basically the conversation. It does stir a few emotions in you inside, but I was just honoured to get the job again.' It was coming on six years since Tipp had even played a Championship game at Croke Park, but Maher didn't doubt Cahill's words. 'No, I believed him, and I suppose we were a good bit through a tough pre-season there, and I know the group of individuals and team we have, there is class there, and especially with the younger lads coming now as well, there's good lads coming through. 'I think in Tipperary we just have to build on it now, we can't be just happy and go back down again next year and not reach the same heights,' he adds, as Tipp look to retain the title for the first time since 1965 when, of course, a Thurles Sars man was captain. As for the screensaver, what is it now? 'I had to change back to the girlfriend there!'
Irish Examiner
11 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Now Tipperary skipper Ronan Maher will visualise 2026 target
A couple of days after the All-Ireland hurling final, the job finally completed, Ronan Maher took out his phone and changed the screensaver. "I changed it back to a picture of the girlfriend," smiled Tipperary's All-Ireland winning captain. A picture of the 'wall of fame' at the entrance to the Thurles Sarsfields club, next to Semple Stadium, had been his screensaver. The club honoured all eight of its All-Ireland winning captains by putting their pictures on plaques and mounting them on the wall outside the clubhouse. And when Maher was first handed the Tipp captaincy, at the start of 2024, he put himself in a position to potentially join them. It was Tipperary's performance coach, Cathal Sheridan, that really got him thinking about that as a lofty but achievable goal, urging him to chase the dream. So defender Maher took out his phone and changed the screensaver to a picture of the wall with a blank space at the end and an arrow pointing to it, where his own image would go. Beneath the picture, he had some motivational words. "That's one of the skills that Cathal Sheridan had," said Maher at the launch of Aviva Insurance's partnership with Clubber TV. "When I met him in 2024, he asked me what my visualisation was for the year and it was to get my picture up and he asked me what my visualisation was as captain and it was to walk up the Hogan Stand and lift the Liam MacCarthy. "But it was also to have my picture up on the Thurles Sarsfields wall with the rest of the legends, and to walk into the clubhouse with the Liam MacCarthy, with all my family and friends there, and that was exactly what happened on the Monday night, the centre was packed out, and everybody from Thurles and outside of Thurles was there. It was just a dream come true." They worked quickly and had a plaque with Maher's image on it in place for the evening. "It was a temporary job," explained Maher, who posed for pictures beneath the plaque with big brother and former Tipp captain Padraic. "They're redoing the whole thing there at the minute. It'll be really nice when it's done. Not many people outside the club probably recognised that it was a thing there, people probably didn't know it was there, so they're redoing it all now. The whole clubhouse has actually been painted and they're painting all the signs, so it'll be really cool to be walking into training and to see it." Jim Stapleton was the club's very first All-Ireland winning captain, from 1887. Denis Maher, Ronan's great grandfather, had been team skipper until the final but a dispute over travelling expenses prompted him to stand down. In 1945, John Maher, Ronan's grand-uncle, made history as the oldest man to lead Tipp to All-Ireland success, at 37. "I always thought that Padraic should have been going up on the wall in '17 and '18," said Ronan of his sibling, whose career was eventually cut short by injury. "That hits home as well, and it's one thing you do think about. You realise you're so lucky to be going up there. He was one of our best leaders ever to wear a Tipp jersey and in '17 and '18 we thought we'd be getting him up on the wall but unfortunately we didn't. "That just makes it more special I suppose, and the achievement that it is. It'll take a while before it hits home. I'm born and raised in Thurles and I'll be there for the rest of my life, so it'll be nice to look at down the line." Visualisation has been a big part of Maher's preparations for several years. Ahead of last month's final against Cork, for example, he looked back on clips from the successful season of 2019, when he'd marked Kilkenny's Colin Fennelly and Wexford's Conor McDonald, recalled what had worked well for him and resolved to make it happen all over again. "I suppose you were trying to visualise that and trying to act on it and then, in the game, make it come to life," said Maher, who was named Man of the Match for his terrific man-marking job on Cork's Brian Hayes. Maher will shortly set himself fresh targets for 2026, imagine them coming to life and then attempt to bring it all to reality. Tipp hasn't retained an All-Ireland title since the mid 1960s, when Sars man Doyle was captain, so that's an obvious target? "You can have that in the back of your mind," nodded Maher. "But you have to strip it back to the small goals and that'll all start when we sit down together. We'll go after all those things again."
Irish Times
11 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Meabh Cahalane hoping three in-a-row chasing Cork can return silverware to Leeside
Meabh Cahalane hopes Cork can lift the spirits of the county by bringing All-Ireland silverware back to Leeside on Sunday. The eldest daughter in the famed Cahalane clan of Castlehaven, she was in Croke Park last month for the All-Ireland senior hurling final, in which her oldest brother, Damien, featured. Another brother, Jack, was part of the extended Cork panel. The manner of the defeat to Tipperary has led to a lengthy postmortem in Cork, but Sunday provides an opportunity for the county's camogie team to claim a third consecutive All-Ireland senior title. Meabh and Orlaith Cahalane will both play in the Croke Park decider against Galway , but their sister Gráinne has missed the year through injury. READ MORE 'You're guaranteed nothing in sport and unfortunately they [Cork hurlers] probably didn't perform to their potential that day, and they'll know that more than anyone else,' says Cahalane. 'I suppose the worst feeling coming away from Croke Park, and we've had it ourselves, is regret. Hopefully that group can stick together now, because you probably learn a lot more when you lose. 'Hopefully the lads can use that as a target to go forward, to hopefully get back to Croke Park next year and right those wrongs.' Cork's Meabh Cahalane at Croke Park ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland senior camogie final. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho The 29-year-old has experienced the pain of defeat on All-Ireland final day twice – to Galway in 2021 and Kilkenny in 2022. But the team channelled those losses to fire them to O'Duffy Cup glory over Waterford in 2023. They successfully defended their title in 2024 and now hope to become the first Cork side since the early 70s to claim three in-a-row. Standing in their way will be a Galway outfit hell-bent on revenge after losing last year's final by a goal. Meabh was handed the Cork captaincy this season, exactly 30 years on from her dad, Niall, captaining the county's senior footballers. Another of Meabh's brothers, Conor, was part of the Cork senior football team this year – a side managed by their uncle, John Cleary. Five of the seven Cahalane children are still living at home, while Meabh resides in Cork City. 'It's very easy for them [parents] to relate to us and they offer us huge support, we're so lucky to have that. They're the main reason that we're lining out for Cork in Croke Park the next day,' she adds. Sunday will be the third time Cork and Galway have met this season – Galway won the last round of Division 1A regulation games 0-19 to 0-13 in March, but in the league final two weeks later Cork ran out 0-21 to 0-10 victors. That defeat to Galway in March remains the only loss suffered by Cork in any competition this year, and while Ger Manley's side had already booked their place in the league final by that stage, the display prompted some soul-searching within the dressingroom. Meabh Cahalane lifts the trophy after Cork's win over Galway in the Division 1A league final at Semple Stadiun in April. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'While there's nothing at stake, you don't prepare for a performance to be under par, and for us that day that performance was definitely well under par,' remembers Cahalane. 'We definitely had an honest conversation with each other as players. Nobody was happy with that performance, so when we met Galway in the league final we just knew that we wanted to put in a Cork performance, and one that might put us in a position to be within grasp of winning a league title. 'We were happy enough coming away from Thurles that day after the league final but we knew we'd meet Galway again later on in the season.' Meabh has four All-Ireland senior titles to her credit – the first coming in 2015 in what was her debut season – and she's now just one win away from captaining Cork to glory. 'I suppose your perspective changes the older you get. Like every other team, you go back training in January with one thing in mind, you are aiming towards an All-Ireland final and an All-Ireland medal,' she says. 'I suppose when that final whistle goes, the only description that I can give of that feeling is that all the hard work that you've put in all year has now paid off, and as a group that's what you feel collectively. It's those battles that you've had in training, those tough running sessions, the nights where it was raining and you didn't want to go out training. 'But I think when you get over the line and that final whistle goes, it's just relief that it has all been made worth it.'
