In the dressing room before tonight's match, the Borrisoleigh manager took a gawk at big Steve Harmison and announced that here was a man who could 'stop the others from hurling'.
This could be regarded as feint praise but there are others who might regard it as the highest praise imaginable.
Tonight's Toughest Trade resulted in a triumph for both parties.
Maher batted for an over in the Adelaide Oval. After a few wild swings, he managed a couple of singles and finished with a boundary.
The rules, it might be added here, were a little more forgiving than they would normally be in cricket. Maher was, in fact, caught out on this third ball, but, for the sake of the programme, he was not made to walk in shame to the pavillion for a post-innings orange and cup of tea.
Harmison, in the words of a colleague, 'created a goal', meaning he horsed it into the mixer and it wound up in the net.
The good-natured Harmison was, of course, bowled over by the fact that these lads don't get a dime. It would be graceless of any professional sportsman participating in this programme not to acknowledge this.
One observer on twitter argued that a rangy bowler like Harmison was exactly suited to hurling and insisted that there were other cricketers they could have picked. In that light, one could regard tonight as a lost opportunity to see what David Gower was up to.
Maher, meanwhile, following a tutorial from a grimly serious John Mooney, worried about the perception that hurlers were bound to be good at cricket because of the 'ould hand-eye co-ordination.
Here's a flavour of the reaction.
This is why you should always use protection folks! #TheToughesthttps://t.co/mk6YTVrfb7
— AIB_GAA (@AIB_GAA) March 8, 2016
"Titanium (shield) for the family jewels" 😂 #cricket #TheToughest
— Peter McNamara (@PeterMcNamara_) March 8, 2016
Harmison: "Watched 30 seconds of hurling on YouTube and thought 'WTF'. Said to missus it's like WWE with hockey sticks" 😂 #TheToughest
— Peter McNamara (@PeterMcNamara_) March 8, 2016
Steve Harmison looking the fittest he ever has #TheToughest
— Niall Lombard (@NiallLombard) March 8, 2016
Hurling described as 'WWE with hockey sticks' 😂😂 #TheToughest 👍
— Valerie Wheeler (@ValerieWheeler_) March 8, 2016
Really enjoying the #TheToughest with @BennyMaher and @AIB_GAA. Hoping he doesn't enjoy it too much! Too big for @TipperaryGAA to lose!
— Tommy O'Donnell (@TommyoDonnell87) March 8, 2016
Poor brendan looked very confused with all the cricket talk in d pub😀 #TheToughest #gaa
— john keating (@johnkeati) March 8, 2016
Compare to Steve, Brendan Maher hadn't the worst trade going out to Australia in the sunshine 😂 ☀️ #TheToughest
— Olivia Lundy (@Livii_Lundy) March 8, 2016
Steve Harmison, a junior full forward if ever I've seen one!😂 #TheToughest
— Mark Prizeman (@markprizeman14) March 8, 2016
Harmison wasn't long getting the hang of it.
— Neil Treacy (@neil_treacy) March 8, 2016
Steve Harmison looks promising his a good eye. Brendan Maher facing 140km deliveries his hard #toughesttrade
— Diarmuid (@DD2705) March 8, 2016
Hats off to Steve Harmison.. Completley embraced the challenge.. Came across as a really likeable guy too #TheToughest
— John OB (@objohnob) March 8, 2016
Even Steve Harmison is a victim of GAA burn out! #TheToughestTrade
— Neil Treacy (@neil_treacy) March 8, 2016
Pulls hammer, sits out training but bet he still starts game at weekend. Steve Harmison has the hang of GAA already! #ToughestTrade
— Frank Craig (@FrankCraig13) March 8, 2016
Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
