Tipperary captain Ronan Maher was the latest man to grasp the hot potato that is the Premier County's No 3 jersey in the win over Dublin last Sunday.
Maher won his second All-Star at full-back in 2019 but only really played there in the All-Ireland final victory over Kilkenny, spending most of the rest of the year at wing-back.
Former forward Michael Breen was Liam Cahill’s man on the edge of the square in his first season in charge last year while James Quigley, Barry Heffernan and Brian McGrath have all also seen game time there since previous incumbent James Barry fell out of favour following the ’19 Munster final defeat and retired that autumn.
It might seem like a simple case of Cahill sacrificing Maher’s ability to score and create from the half-back line for greater defensive solidity but RTÉ hurling columnist Shane McGrath offered an intriguing take: What if Maher can still be a playmaker from further back?
"In my opinion, Ronan is one of the best strikers of the ball in the game," McGrath told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"They had Mikey Breen at full-back last year, I think Mikey will play further out the field. Why are they playing Ronan at full-back?
"What he can do at full-back is, rather than having to go back [from the half-back line] and get it, if the lads win it and you see Ronan Maher there, Ronan can - Patrick Mahomes-style, quarter-back - ping that space and beat a half-back line. He can beat a centre-forward if the 6 is sitting off you.
"I think Ronan at full-back will be very interesting."
Jackie Tyrrell won nine All-Ireland titles in the Kilkenny full-back line. He can see the logic in the switch but only because Maher also has the necessary skills for the full-back role.
"There is probably merit in it," the RTÉ analyst said. "You'd like to have six or seven Ronan Mahers to play across the back line but unfortunately they only have one.
"He’s definitely the best striker and distributor of the ball from the back, from a Tipperary point of view.
"If you’re playing in the half-back line, sometimes that area is so crowded you can find it hard to get time on the ball. If you look at the role Richie Reid plays for Kilkenny, he picks up a lot of ball but he’s not a high-sitting centre-back, he’s almost halfway between the half-back and the full-back line.
"I can understand the merit of trying it. Fundamentally though, full-back is a pivotal position to build your defence around. When Tipp won the All-Ireland in 2019 he went back and solidified that position so ultimately he’s very good as a defender. He’s very strong in the air, he’s a big man and his defensive instincts are good. They are the most important criteria for Tipperary to look for in a full-back and he ticks all those boxes.
"I understand the game has changed and distribution has never been more important but what's more important is defending. Put your best defender in there and build from there. A full-back is there to do one really good job and that’s defend. If they’re an unbelievable distributor, that’s brilliant but if they’re not it’s not the end of the world.
"When you have guys that have great defensive instincts, you can always work on their ball retention, distribution and skillset. But lads that haven’t got a defender’s brain, you can’t put it into them."
Maher often chips in scores or sets up team-mates from wing-back but for Tyrrell reducing the opposition goal-threat would outweigh any reduction in his offensive impact.
"If he's playing wing-back and he sets up two or three points with assists but you have a full-back that’s not doing the job and you can concede two goals, you’d have to be hurling an awful lot of ball from half-back.
"Last year, Cork ran down the heart of the Tipperary defence in Páirc Ui Chaoimh and they lacked a bit of legs from midfield and half-back. Ronan probably isn’t the fastest so it might help to put him back there where he’s less exposed to speed.
"Michael Breen did a relatively good job but I don’t think he was ever the long-term solution, he’s a natural midfielder/half-forward. If you’re building a team, your 3 and 6 have to be so good. I would think Bryan O’Meara would be that natural 6 for them, he’s an outstanding talent. He could be the future centre-back for Tipp.
"You look at Daithi Burke, how caught Galway were when they took him out of there. Sometimes when you have a really good full-back just be happy that you have him and don’t try to do too much. Kilkenny looked at Huw Lawlor at 6 last year and he did really well during the league but ultimately they couldn’t find his replacement and he went back to being the 3."
Is there a bigger risk channelling possession through a deep-lying player?
"Most teams bring a corner-forward further out the field. There's nearly always one defender who is on their own and can receive puckouts. Ronan Maher will be that guy and can still impact the game from the 20 outwards.
"You shouldn’t be getting turned over in your full-back line. Most teams spend a lot of time training on carrying the ball out and offering options. Limerick are obviously the best at it but Tipperary used the ball so well at the weekend. If you have a guy like Ronan Maher, and you can find him on the ball 40 yards out from his goal, that’s a good platform to be delivering ball into the likes of Jake Morris and Jason Forde."
Maher's successors as All-Star full-back, Huw Lawlor (2023 and '22), Conor Prunty ('21) and Dan Morrissey ('20) are perhaps more renowned for their defending than ball-striking but who could fill the quarterback full-back role for other counties?
"Eoghan O’Donnell could do for Dublin it because he has that unbelievable athleticism to run the ball out," says Tyrrell.
"Liam Ryan is quite good up the field for Wexford but the most impressive hurler last weekend for me was Conor Foley.
"First and foremost an old-school defender. Out in front, rugged, aggressive, attacks the ball. But by god is he able to get up the field. He scored two points last weekend and was as comfortable 80 or 90 yards from his own goal as he was on the edge of the square.
"He’s definitely one that I’m excited about watching it this year. Do they bring him out the field when Liam Ryan comes back or leave him at 3?"
The real quarterbacks will be in action at the Super Bowl this weekend but it will be fascinating to see how Tipp's gambit works out and whether it sets a trend for other hurling counties to follow.
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