IN THE EXTENSIVE search to rediscover his top form, John McGrath doesn’t reckon he tried anything too off the wall to get back in the Tipperary team. He was always tinkering with his approach, though.
In the aftermath of a torn Achilles, which flared up on occasion since 2022, it was feared that the Loughmore-Castleiney star’s best days in blue and gold were behind him.
Indeed, prior to this year, his only championship start under Liam Cahill came in the manager’s Munster debut with Tipp in April 2023.
“You do go a bit mad with it at times,” said McGrath, who has been named the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for July.
“The club form was probably one of the huge things that kept me going. In the back of your mind, you know it’s there.
“You’re trying to train extra, and maybe that’s not working, and next thing you’re trying everything to maybe recover better.
“It’s funny, I saw very little League time, and it’s not as if I was tearing up trees or anything in training either.”
Did he have any sense that Cahill was holding him back for the Munster Championship?
PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for July John McGrath. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
“No, nothing like that. I played a small bit, didn’t see any action in our last League game against Clare or the League final with Cork.
Advertisement
“You certainly have conversations with lads. Frustration, at times, not playing, being left out. Look, there’s 37 or 38 lads, and a lot of lads are probably asking them the same questions.
“But no, there was certainly never anything like that we’re going to hold on to him for championship.
“Maybe I got into a little bit of training form at the right time, and the lads took a bit of a chance on me coming into that Limerick game.
“They said we’re going to put you in, you’ve been there, you have the bit of experience, so it just went well for me that day and kicked on from there.”
McGrath consistently stood up in the biggest games on their route to All-Ireland glory, scoring a goal against Kilkenny and two each against Limerick, Clare, and Cork, where he also won the clinching penalty.
The 31-year-old doesn’t think he arrived with a different approach, just a “re-found appreciation” for being back involved in those showpiece days.
He did put a major emphasis on that first day out against Limerick, though.
Tipperary’s John McGrath to the field before playing Limerick at FBD Semple Stadium. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“I remember Liam coming to me a couple of days before that game, and saying they were going to put me in. I put a lot of pressure on myself in that game. I probably made it out to be a bigger game in my own head than it actually was.
“The couple of previous years I had were on and off. Off more than on. In that stage of my Tipperary career, I needed to do something to remind myself and to remind others what I was capable of.
“Thank God it worked out for me a bit that day, and we’d a brilliant battle, but just to be back stuck in it, it’s something you don’t want to let go of.”
In McGrath’s own words, it was far from the best game he’d ever played, but he felt at the right level physically and departed filled with confidence. Off the back of a winless 2024, it was a sense he carried throughout the summer.
“We were losing games by double figures more than once, so it was just about getting back and being competitive.
“From the journey that we’ve come on this year, and where we’ve come from in the last couple of years, it’s just been unreal. To be honest, it’s hard to believe at times.
“I’m living in Thurles and you’re going down the town and the flags and colour are still up and in some ways, it feels like a bit of a dream
“It’s massively special and for something that you thought maybe wasn’t going to come again, or maybe that at this level you were done, or weren’t going to get to this level again, the satisfaction of it is just unreal.”
McGrath admits there was “an element of shock” in the manner that Tipp prevailed over Cork in the second half of the final.
John McGrath celebrates scoring a goal against Cork. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
He feels everything started to go right for them, while the Rebels experienced the exact opposite when hitting the woodwork four times.
The biggest satisfaction was the rare achievement of saving “the best 35 minutes of the year” for the final part of the season.
With that Celtic Cross in the back pocket, did McGrath’s conversations turn to doing back-to-back at any stage during the celebrations?
“As the year ticks on and it gets into the winter, those sorts of thoughts will be coming to lads. You certainly don’t want to just win one and go away for a couple of years again.
“Like Tipp, we want and aim to be very competitive every year. That’s not always going to lead to winning Munster Championships or All-Ireland Championships or League finals, but on any given year, Tipp should feel that there’s a real chance.
“It’s probably for a couple of weeks and months down the line when that kind of talk starts up. We wanted to enjoy the year we had and to celebrate that when we had the chance.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'In that stage of my Tipperary career, I needed to remind myself and others what I was capable of'
IN THE EXTENSIVE search to rediscover his top form, John McGrath doesn’t reckon he tried anything too off the wall to get back in the Tipperary team. He was always tinkering with his approach, though.
In the aftermath of a torn Achilles, which flared up on occasion since 2022, it was feared that the Loughmore-Castleiney star’s best days in blue and gold were behind him.
Indeed, prior to this year, his only championship start under Liam Cahill came in the manager’s Munster debut with Tipp in April 2023.
“You do go a bit mad with it at times,” said McGrath, who has been named the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for July.
“The club form was probably one of the huge things that kept me going. In the back of your mind, you know it’s there.
“You’re trying to train extra, and maybe that’s not working, and next thing you’re trying everything to maybe recover better.
“It’s funny, I saw very little League time, and it’s not as if I was tearing up trees or anything in training either.”
Did he have any sense that Cahill was holding him back for the Munster Championship?
“No, nothing like that. I played a small bit, didn’t see any action in our last League game against Clare or the League final with Cork.
“You certainly have conversations with lads. Frustration, at times, not playing, being left out. Look, there’s 37 or 38 lads, and a lot of lads are probably asking them the same questions.
“But no, there was certainly never anything like that we’re going to hold on to him for championship.
“Maybe I got into a little bit of training form at the right time, and the lads took a bit of a chance on me coming into that Limerick game.
“They said we’re going to put you in, you’ve been there, you have the bit of experience, so it just went well for me that day and kicked on from there.”
McGrath consistently stood up in the biggest games on their route to All-Ireland glory, scoring a goal against Kilkenny and two each against Limerick, Clare, and Cork, where he also won the clinching penalty.
The 31-year-old doesn’t think he arrived with a different approach, just a “re-found appreciation” for being back involved in those showpiece days.
He did put a major emphasis on that first day out against Limerick, though.
“I remember Liam coming to me a couple of days before that game, and saying they were going to put me in. I put a lot of pressure on myself in that game. I probably made it out to be a bigger game in my own head than it actually was.
“Thank God it worked out for me a bit that day, and we’d a brilliant battle, but just to be back stuck in it, it’s something you don’t want to let go of.”
In McGrath’s own words, it was far from the best game he’d ever played, but he felt at the right level physically and departed filled with confidence. Off the back of a winless 2024, it was a sense he carried throughout the summer.
“We were losing games by double figures more than once, so it was just about getting back and being competitive.
“From the journey that we’ve come on this year, and where we’ve come from in the last couple of years, it’s just been unreal. To be honest, it’s hard to believe at times.
“It’s massively special and for something that you thought maybe wasn’t going to come again, or maybe that at this level you were done, or weren’t going to get to this level again, the satisfaction of it is just unreal.”
McGrath admits there was “an element of shock” in the manner that Tipp prevailed over Cork in the second half of the final.
He feels everything started to go right for them, while the Rebels experienced the exact opposite when hitting the woodwork four times.
The biggest satisfaction was the rare achievement of saving “the best 35 minutes of the year” for the final part of the season.
With that Celtic Cross in the back pocket, did McGrath’s conversations turn to doing back-to-back at any stage during the celebrations?
“As the year ticks on and it gets into the winter, those sorts of thoughts will be coming to lads. You certainly don’t want to just win one and go away for a couple of years again.
“Like Tipp, we want and aim to be very competitive every year. That’s not always going to lead to winning Munster Championships or All-Ireland Championships or League finals, but on any given year, Tipp should feel that there’s a real chance.
“It’s probably for a couple of weeks and months down the line when that kind of talk starts up. We wanted to enjoy the year we had and to celebrate that when we had the chance.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
GAA Hurler of the Month Hurling John McGrath Tipperary GAA