John McGrath: 'I'm absolutely delighted'

By Cian O'Connell

GAA.ie sat down with 2025 GAA/GPA PwC Hurler of the Year, John McGrath.

Q: Congratulations, there must be a massive sense of achievement attached to this award?

John McGrath: One hundred per cent, it is a bit mad to be honest, to even think about it or even when you say it there. It is an absolutely massive honour for myself, my family, for my club, it is just brilliant. It is something I hadn't ever really envisaged or thought about myself. When they come around, it is brilliant. I'm absolutely delighted.

Q: It is so different compared to around this time last year when reflecting on a campaign that didn't go well for Tipperary, maybe you felt you might have got more minutes yourself too? In December and even into January how hard was that for you and Tipperary?

JM: It was. It was very different. We were coming off the back of not even just one, maybe two or three disappointing years. It can be hard to know where your head is at when you're doing that. You spoke about that spell, November, December, and January, I was lucky in some ways that we were still playing with Loughmore up until early December. I think, in some ways, that nearly helped, it kept things fresh for me. You're coming back into the Tipp panel ready; you're not starting from complete scratch. We'd a couple of weeks off. It was difficult. At the time, it was very hard to see where the year actually ended for a finish.

We just wanted to get back to try to be competitive. There wasn't a whole lot of talk about winning this or winning that. It was just about putting pride back in the Tipperary jersey really. For myself, having not seen a whole lot of game time, it is frustrating, but then again, that is in your own hands too. You've to be doing enough and showing enough to get picked. I think a lot of lads would've looked at themselves. That was probably a big factor. Players and management look into themselves, they looked at their own house. There was nobody pointing fingers or anything like that. Everybody just wanted to go for the one goal. Everybody wanted to improve - to give their best. Where the year took us afterwards, it was very hard to see coming. That is the joys of sport, I suppose. When things get rolling, a bit of magic can happen.

Q: The emergence of new players seemed to be important. Even going back to the first league game against Galway in Salthill, momentum seemed to be generated and maintained. There appeared to be a nice blend between emerging and established players?

JM: I remember it, I was on the bench there, that night. There was a nice few guys that hadn't seen action before, they got a first outing. That is always very important. To be honest, to go up there, getting a win, it isn't something we've done a whole lot over the years, as far as I can remember. At the time, it might probably seem a quite insignificant thing, but it set out our stall for the year. Going up there on a miserable night, it would've been easy for lads to blame different things - the conditions, having to travel up. Lads just rolled up their sleeves, they got stuck in, we got a good result. It just showed from there on the attitude everyone was bringing. We'd new fellas were coming for lads’ jersey.

Q: The significance of the Limerick game at the start of the Munster Championship, both personally and for the team. There was a real spirit about Tipperary in that game. How key was it to deliver in that match?

JM: It was, particularly to try to come back and rebound from a heavy league final defeat. I think there was probably a lot of doubts, about our team, after that. People were questioning us as a team and as individuals, I suppose. I think it was important for lads to show that we were able. We got confidence from that too. You were going up against a serious outfit. If some fellas didn't fully realise, the next thing you realised we can compete here. We'd gone toe to toe with one of the best teams of the last couple of years. You gain huge confidence from that, too. Particularly after the league final defeat, being in Thurles, with a big crowd, we needed to come away from that with something. We didn't get the win, but the positivity it brought with us for the rest of the year was very important.

Q: Liam Cahill, Mikey Bevans, and the backroom team, who have contributed. Their influence on this Tipperary success was significant?

JM: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of the lads had them at underage for a couple of years. They knew the vast majority of what was in the group, and, I think, they'd say themselves they've learned as they've gone on, too. I think the thing they'd have been most unhappy with in the previous two years was, at times, they were probably looking at a team that didn't represent their values or what they were trying to instil in a team. I've heard them mention at different stages, that was probably the most pleasing part. At any game, once they can look out seeing lads that are giving their all, that they're playing like we train, I suppose. Once they get that, they're generally happy. They've had a huge influence on us. I don't even know what you'd call the style, but the lads have brought a huge work rate to the teams they had at minor and U21. When you sprinkle in the hurling that will always be in Tipperary players, it just created a brilliant mix.

Q: When Tipp got to Croke Park, for the first time in the Championship since 2019, a long time, the team just flourished against Kilkenny and Cork?

JM: Yeah, absolutely. The first main goal was to get out of Munster, but in the background, Liam would often have talked about, that if we can get to Croke Park, that was quietly spoken about in the background. It probably freed us up, once we got there. In most people's eyes, in nearly everyone's eyes, by getting to that stage of the championship, we'd overachieved already. In some ways, we were probably free to have a real go at things from there. Nobody expected much of us, outside of our own circle. There is something about it, when you get to Croke Park, you want to put your best foot forward. As a young fella, looking and going to matches up there, everyone wants to perform on that stage. To be able to do it, although not half often enough, in the last couple of years, when we finally did get back there, for our chance, it was nice to be able to take it.

Q: Finally, John, to win an All-Ireland alongside your brothers, during a special time for your own club, with match after match. It must be special?

JM: It's incredible. It's funny, the three All-Irelands I've won now, Noel has obviously been on the senior team for the three of them and Brian for the last two. Even going back as far as 2016, Brian won the minor final the same day as we won the senior. Not that we're getting used to it or anything, but it is nice to have the three of us there on any day. Whether it is with the club or Tipperary, it is like anything, when you're successful and you've your friends around you, it is brilliant. When you're able to do it with your two brothers, maybe it is just that bit extra special. You don't get too many opportunities or too many days to accomplish things like that. So, it is really special to have those memories as we get older.