Captain McGrath still in love with hurling more than ever

By Shane Brophy

Inter-county hurling is demanding so anything that can take the pressure off is welcome. Noel McGrath has known about it since late 2008 and going into his fifteenth championship season, he has a new focus in life, recently becoming a father to Jack, along with his wife Ashling.

“It’s different, it has been exciting,” he admitted.

“Something new, something we were looking forward to, it’s here and it is reality. All is good and all is healthy so far, and it has been a good start for us.”

Not many players can combine the demands of the modern inter-county game with parenthood these days with it becoming a young person’s game more and more. However, Noel McGrath still craves wearing the blue and gold jersey more than ever.

When you cross into the thirty age-bracket, people begin to talk of players in the past tense and what they have left to offer. But Noel McGrath is still on top of his game and while it could be that the years are running out to play at this level, he doesn’t use that as motivation.

“I just love it to be honest,” he admitted.

“People ask that at different times, how do you stay going and going in training, and getting yourself going every year?

“But the buzz of playing never goes, and when you’re gone then you’re probably looking to get it back, so that’s just what keeps me going. For as long as I’m able and as long as I’m wanted, I will stay going and stay competing and I’ll do the same with my club.

“I just love playing, and you get these moments at times when you’re either training or playing where you get a good feeling of why you enjoy it, and especially now at this time of the year. There’s no better time than the three, four or five weeks leading into championship. The evenings have gotten longer, I know it’s different maybe than what it was six, seven or eight years ago, it's starting a bit earlier. But at the end of April the weather will still be picking up and the ground will be getting that bit harder.

“It’s what I grew up wanting to do and I’m going to do it for as long as I’m wanted or as long as I’m able as well, and as long as I’m contributing and helping lads whatever way that is, whether it’s playing or not playing. Whatever way it is, I’ll do that as long as I can.

“That dream to stay chasing, to win trophies and compete for Tipperary, as long as I still have that I’m going to stay competing as best I can.”

While he has been playing championship hurling since 2009, Noel McGrath only turned 32 years of age last December, one of the beneficiaries of being a late year baby in 1990. All-Ireland titles in minor (2), under 21 and three in senior have embellished an outstanding career, but 2023 will provide a first for him, that of being captain, but it isn’t a big deal for the Loughmore/Castleiney clubman.

“I haven’t changed much, to be honest,” he said of his new role.

“I suppose my idea of being captain is that you train as hard as you’ve ever trained, you play as good as you’ve ever played, you give the same amount that you’ve given before. There’s no real difference.

“If you feel like you need to say something, or that something needs to be said at a certain time you say it, I would have been no different when I wasn’t captain as to what I am as captain. There are a lot of good lads around there as well who know when to speak at the right time.

“I think leading with actions is probably the most important thing. You turn up to training every night and you turn up for matches in a good frame of mind, and you give everything that you have and that’s the way I’ve been dealing with it so far.

“The management are very good in the dressing room as well, and they say the things that need to be said.”

The McGrath family tree has not only grown off the field, but also on it for Tipperary with his brothers John & Brian on the panel for a number of years, now joined by first cousins, Podge & John Campion, who play with Drom & Inch and have helped provide a new energy to the squad this year as Tipp aim to make up for last years Munster Championship whitewash.

“Last year was disappointing for us all, as a whole group, as players and manager, the whole lot, and people in Tipperary were disappointed as well,” McGrath continued.

“People come to support Tipperary and we lost all our matches in Munster last year, which was a huge disappointment. For us as players that hurts, any day you go out you’re representing Tipperary, and you don’t like losing.

“We’re heading into this year again and obviously there are five teams in Munster and everybody’s trying to win every day they go out. We’re no different in that, you definitely do want to get the wins to get yourself in a good position in the Munster Championship.

“Last year might have a bearing on it for motivation for some lads, but in other ways it is gone, it’s in the past, and you have to move on and look forward to this year, and that’s what we’ve been doing all this year, is looking forward and trying to improve.

“And there are a lot of lads who weren’t involved last year and who are there this year and they’re driving on and all looking for spots (on the team) as well. There’s good competition there and hopefully we’ll get off to the start that we’re looking for.”

Tipperary come into this years championship off a much better league campaign, winning all five group games before their run was ended at the hands of Limerick in the semi-final, a timely shock to the system that Tipp are far from the finished article.

“The league as a whole was good for Tipp this year,” Noel felt.

“A lot of lads got game time, which exposed lads to serious games.

“It was disappointing to lose to Limerick, we were in a decent position for half the game, but we were playing against a quality team who have done that to a lot of teams before.”

He added: “They are the standard bearers at the moment. They’ve won the last three All-Irelands and won a good few leagues and Munster as well, so they are the standard team to beat.

“When it goes back to the motivation that’s what keeps you going, that hope and that opportunity to go and take on the best teams and to test yourself against the best, at the moment they are that.

“There are a lot of good teams out there as well, no more than Clare in Ennis, and that’s the main focus at the moment. If you start looking any further down the track, you get side-tracked.

“It’s well talked about that Munster is so competitive, and if you're not on your game any day you go out you’ll be done, so I think it’s important that we get ourselves focused, and every team in Munster is looking to do the same.”

First up is a trip to Cusack Park on Sunday where Noel McGrath enjoyed a win in his only championship experience there in 2019 and is relishing the challenge of playing again in such a tough environment.

“From growing up and watching matches it’s what you want to do,” he said.

“You want to go and play in front of full houses, in front of big crowds. I think that’s what’s probably going to happen in Ennis, you’ll have a big crowd and hopefully there will be a good Tipp crowd there as well.

“That’s what Munster championships have been over the years, it’s what I grew up watching, it’s what I want to play in and what everybody wants to play in.

“We’re looking forward to it. It’s a test of a lot more than just hurling when you have a big occasion like this. That’s what you look forward to as a player, and it’s part of the reason why you play, is to test yourself in situations like this. There are a lot of lads on the panel who have played there and some who haven’t, they might have played down there at minor and Under 21.

“It’s enjoyable when you think of what you have to look forward to, big occasions like that. We all know during Covid there were times we were playing with nobody at the matches, so the more the better. The better atmosphere nearly even creates better games as well, it improves the whole thing. We hope every match this year, including the one in Ennis, that they’ll have as big a crowd as possible.”