John McGrath aims to prove himself all over again
Pictured at Croke Park is Tipperary hurler John McGrath at the announcement of a new three-year partnership with Comfort Keepers, Ireland’s leading homecare provider, which has been named Official Community Impact Partner of the GAA and GPA. Comfort Keepers will bring its ambassadors into homes and communities across the country this year, connecting Gaelic games supporters of all ages and abilities. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
In the world of high-level sport, eaten bread is soon forgotten.
John McGrath had a year of years in 2025 as the key role he played for Tipperary in their All-Ireland winning campaign saw him crowned Hurler of the Year.
He knows that counts for little now though. He has yet to start a match for the Premier County after four rounds of the League and isn’t inclined to just presume he’ll be a fixture again in the starting XV by the time the championship swings around.
"Things can quickly change. For better or worse," says the Loughmore-Castleiney man when speaking at the launch of Comfort Keepers as the Official Community Impact Partner of the GAA/GPA.
"You can’t just rest on your laurels. You can’t just say it’s going to come. You still have to work really, really hard.
"Nothing is handed to you. We like to think we have a competitive squad. There’s good competition for places. And we certainly can’t take anything for granted.
"There’s definitely fellas putting up their hands and trying to push on. That is good for competition within the squad.
"The management might also want to try a few things in the league. Put in a couple of fellas. Lots of different teams try out things in the league. Tactics and stuff.
"But the most important thing for fellas is to try and get that bit of consistency in what they are trying to do."
2025 PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year, John McGrath pictured with, Gaelic Players Association chief executive Tom Parsons, PwC managing partner Enda McDonagh, and Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Jarlath Burns. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
McGrath has come on as a substitute in three of the four matches that Tipperary have played so far in the League and you would expect he’ll be given the chance to show what he can do as a starter again sooner rather than later.
He’s not inclined though to knock on Liam Cahill’s door and ask whether that will happen again Waterford on Sunday.
“You have to make sure you have a case going to any manager,” says McGrath.
“It's not a case of just being there training and wondering why you're not playing - people see games at the weekend and they'd be wondering, oh, isn't this lad getting a chance or that lad getting a chance?
“But we train maybe two times that week, other than the match, so that's where you build your case for inclusion. It's only if you feel you're hitting the level and maybe still not getting a look in, then I think they're quite approachable that way.
“You can go to them and you can talk to them. Maybe there's something they're seeing that they'd like done better.
“I think you have to be going to management and looking to see what they want from you as well, but in the long run, I would have said this a bit last year, people were asking me why I hadn't been but generally the team picks itself in training.
“You have to make sure you're showing your form. It's kind of a thing where you have to make them pick you, you can't just expect to be thrown in. You have to be hitting the level to make sure that you're picked. You have to try and give them no option but to play you.”
John McGrath and Liam Cahill hoist the Liam MacCarthy Cup at Croke Park after victory over Cork in the 2025 All-Ireland SHC Final. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
If McGrath feels like he has a thing or two to prove to Liam Cahill, he’s certainly not the only member of the panel in that boat.
Anyone who featured in their heavy defeat to Limerick two weekends ago will surely want to make amends for that chastening experience but if you’re going to get a kick up the backside then better to be on the end of it half way through a League campaign than in the first round of the championship.
Tipperary might be reigning All-Ireland champions, but the scale of the 15-point defeat was a reminder that previous achievements will count for little in what’s bound to be another dog eat dog Munster Senior Hurling Championship.
“It'll probably give a reality check to what can happen, I suppose, not that you obviously don't want that as such,” admits McGrath.
“It just goes to show, if you are that little bit off it, teams are going to punish you. It's very unforgiving, I suppose.
“We need to make sure in our last couple of games now that we can say that that's a once-off, but you kind of have to back that up. If you have a couple of those performances, it's a real worry.
“Whereas one of them you can say, OK, ‘certain things went wrong’ but you just can't let a pattern develop.”
