John McGrath is pleased to have found the on button again

By Stephen Barry

Over a couple of years, John McGrath tried everything he could think of to rediscover his top form for Tipperary.

He trained extra, and when that wasn’t working, he tried every trick to recover better between sessions. 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.

He wasn’t always immune to that thinking either, although his club form offered reassurance.

So when the door came ajar ahead of the Munster opener against Limerick, he felt the pressure to serve up a reminder of his capabilities.

“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,” said McGrath, who was this week named the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for July.

“I remember Liam (Cahill) 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 that day, but just to be back stuck in it, it's something you don't want to let go of.”

McGrath consistently came up with goals in the biggest games on Tipp’s route to All-Ireland glory.

The 31-year-old doesn’t think he brought a different approach, just a “re-found appreciation” for being back involved in those showpiece days.

In McGrath’s own words, that Limerick game was far from the best 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 is just unreal.”

McGrath admits there was “an element of shock” in the manner that Tipp overwhelmed Cork in the second half at Croke Park.

The rare achievement of saving “the best 35 minutes of the year” for last brought extra fulfilment.

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.

“Tipp 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.