Tipperary hurling captain Ronan Maher has hailed the work of mindset coach Cathal Sheridan in introducing him to visualisation techniques and helping the premier county to their 29th All-Ireland title.
Speaking at the launch of Aviva's new partnership with ClubberTV, almost three weeks after Tipp crushed Cork in the decider, the Thurles Sarsfields defender was effusive in praise for the former Munster rugby scrum-half.
"He's been really beneficial to me. He's helped me around the captaincy side, and he's helped me around build up to games and stuff like that," said Maher.
"He's been brilliant for us, and I know every player has been linking in with him.
"I suppose if you ever have doubts leading into a game, or anything like that, it's really good to look back on good clips of performances, or things that you've done well. It just gives you that bit of confidence, or if you have any doubts, you know that you have the work put in as well."
The Sligo-born Sheridan has been working with Munster Rugby in mental skills or psychology roles since his retirement from playing back in 2017, and Maher says he has played a big role in the team’s midweek preparations.
"Cathal is really good to link in with players individually and collectively and he's just been really good for all of us. I'm sure he's the very same with Kerry, but if there's anything that you were uncomfortable with or if you had nerves building up to the game, he's the right person to go after, and he'll put you in the right direction," he said.
"He just brings your attention and your focus to the game rather than the occasion I suppose. He just puts that bit of belief into you as well as a group and he just reminds you of the work that you've done and how far we've come and he's really good at that. Like I said he's been a huge benefit to me this year and last year and I suppose I'm sure a lot of the other players are the very same as well.
"I think the work is done Monday to Friday rather than before the game. Like once the game comes around, there's not much that Cathal can do for you really, but it's all different, small things like that," Maher added.
Sheridan played alongside the likes of Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony at Munster, but Maher insists that this was not the main talking point when they spoke, and that the mental skills coach helped to keep his mind on the task at hand, rather than the weight of the captaincy mantle.
"It wasn't necessarily just captaincy or anything like that, he'd always bring me back down to, and kind of visualising it, and I suppose he'd always bring me back to where it started. He'd always explain how privileged I am to get that role, and to represent my club," said the Thurles clubman.
"He asks me the questions rather than me asking him the questions, and he's really good at that. He's just been hugely beneficial in all aspects I suppose, it's hard to get it all out now, but just the support he gives you around different things, and he's just been class for us, and we're so lucky to have him.
"Coming from a high-performance environment like Munster, you just have huge belief in him, and there's been times where he's challenged me, and I've challenged different things as well, but especially this year he's brought us on so much.
"He'd always speak to you about your family; he'd speak to you about your life outside of hurling as well. He's a caring fella, and the same as the group, we're all so tight, and we're really tight with Cathal as well, and if we needed that he's the one to go to."
