When Tipperary won the All-Ireland SHC in 2019, John McGrath scored 2-18 across eight championship matches.
However, the next five seasons, while playing 15 times across the Munster and All-Ireland series, the Loughmore-Castleiney man tallied 3-9, two of those goals coming in back-to-back matches against Offaly and Galway in 2023.
The best-forgotten 2024 campaign featured four points from two outings as Tipp finished bottom of the Munster SHC table, a single point claimed from four matches.
Few would have said that it was within the Premier county’s capabilities to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2025. Fewer still would have plumped for McGrath as hurler of the year – and yet here we are.
In eight appearances, the 31-year-old scored 7-16, including 2-2 in the All-Ireland final. What changed?
“It’s hard to put a finger on it, I suppose,” he says.
Turn the tide
“The first part is that, in general as a team, we performed much, much better this year and that helps up at my end of the pitch as well – you’re getting more chances or you’re getting better chances, I suppose.
“We definitely trained quite hard, but we trained smartly as well. To be fair, Angelo Walsh had us flying on the S&C side and we built momentum early, which was a big thing.
“Lads kind of saw this year, not necessarily as a make-or-break one but they saw the importance of it, maybe, and how we needed to turn the tide from the previous couple of years.
“Everyone looked at themselves, from management right down. They got great people involved – Amy McGuire on the nutrition side was probably an underrated part of it; I definitely had great success from working with her.
“Even for myself, I went back kind of late as we had been involved with the club and I knew the early rounds of the league weren’t going to be too much for me, so on a Wednesday evening I did my own bit of a running in a park up the road.
“It wasn’t even anything mad, but I probably knew in my own head that I needed to make a right good go at this or let somebody else have a go at it fairly soon. I threw a bit of everything at it.”
Oisín Kelly's parents Sinéad and Brendan with Tipperary hurler John McGrath at the launch of the IBTS Every Drop Counts campaign at Croke Park. Picture: Brian McEvoy
Dream scenario
The perfect day that was 20 July in Croke Park would have been hard to top – not least because McGrath’s older brother Noel came off the bench to score the last point as he won a fourth Celtic Cross – but the family had even more joy in the autumn.
County title wins have become a regular occurrence for Loughmore-Castleiney but never before had the club retained the Dan Breen Cup, awarded to the Tipperary senior hurling champions. Doing so this year was the perfect ending to a memorable sporting year.
“It was the first time in the club’s history going back-to-back, which was massive,” McGrath says.
“It’s funny, over the last 10 or 12 years, any time we’ve had a bit of success for Tipp, it kind of coincided with a not-so-good year for Loughmore.
“To go from one to the other and end up with an All-Ireland and a county in the same year, it’s unreal – that’s the thing in your ideal world or your dream scenario to come to reality.
“It’s mad and I can appreciate it, but equally, it’s the kind of thing that I won’t really grasp the enormity of it for a few years yet.”
Blood donation
You could say that McGrath got every last drop out of the year and that was the theme of his recent return to Croke Park, promoting the Every Drop Counts campaign on behalf of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.
Oisín Kelly, a young hurler from Carlow, who died from cancer in 2023, was the driver of the push to encourage blood donation and McGrath is honoured to be associated with his lasting legacy.
“It’s a very worthwhile campaign,” he says.
“The family has done huge work and it’s great to be able to give some time to help them promote it.
“It’s something that’s going to touch most families around the country at some stage but it’s probably not until it affects someone that you know that it really hits home.
“I hope that they get the response that they need. The GAA is all about families and communities and helping each other out.”
That Oisín, despite his tender years and going through the worst thing imaginable, had the maturity and foresight to want to create something that would outlive him is a source of pride for his family, as his father Brendan outlined.
“We want people to donate,” he says, “young people in particular probably don’t see donation as relevant unless there’s a member of the family who needs it but if you’re young and healthy it’s not really on your radar. We’re trying to build that connection now, get people into the habit of donating regularly. We’re all touched by it.
“Oisín discovered first-hand how vital blood was – he was six-foot-four and typically needed 11-12 pints – so that blood had to be there on tap, ready for Oisín when he came out of the operation.
“The GAA have been fantastic in supporting this initiative, at club level, county level and here at Croke Park as well, there has been a really great reaction to it.”
When Tipperary won the All-Ireland SHC in 2019, John McGrath scored 2-18 across eight championship matches.
However, the next five seasons, while playing 15 times across the Munster and All-Ireland series, the Loughmore-Castleiney man tallied 3-9, two of those goals coming in back-to-back matches against Offaly and Galway in 2023.
The best-forgotten 2024 campaign featured four points from two outings as Tipp finished bottom of the Munster SHC table, a single point claimed from four matches.
Few would have said that it was within the Premier county’s capabilities to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2025. Fewer still would have plumped for McGrath as hurler of the year – and yet here we are.
In eight appearances, the 31-year-old scored 7-16, including 2-2 in the All-Ireland final. What changed?
“It’s hard to put a finger on it, I suppose,” he says.
Turn the tide
“The first part is that, in general as a team, we performed much, much better this year and that helps up at my end of the pitch as well – you’re getting more chances or you’re getting better chances, I suppose.
“We definitely trained quite hard, but we trained smartly as well. To be fair, Angelo Walsh had us flying on the S&C side and we built momentum early, which was a big thing.
“Lads kind of saw this year, not necessarily as a make-or-break one but they saw the importance of it, maybe, and how we needed to turn the tide from the previous couple of years.
“Everyone looked at themselves, from management right down. They got great people involved – Amy McGuire on the nutrition side was probably an underrated part of it; I definitely had great success from working with her.
“Even for myself, I went back kind of late as we had been involved with the club and I knew the early rounds of the league weren’t going to be too much for me, so on a Wednesday evening I did my own bit of a running in a park up the road.
“It wasn’t even anything mad, but I probably knew in my own head that I needed to make a right good go at this or let somebody else have a go at it fairly soon. I threw a bit of everything at it.”
Oisín Kelly's parents Sinéad and Brendan with Tipperary hurler John McGrath at the launch of the IBTS Every Drop Counts campaign at Croke Park. Picture: Brian McEvoy
Dream scenario
The perfect day that was 20 July in Croke Park would have been hard to top – not least because McGrath’s older brother Noel came off the bench to score the last point as he won a fourth Celtic Cross – but the family had even more joy in the autumn.
County title wins have become a regular occurrence for Loughmore-Castleiney but never before had the club retained the Dan Breen Cup, awarded to the Tipperary senior hurling champions. Doing so this year was the perfect ending to a memorable sporting year.
“It was the first time in the club’s history going back-to-back, which was massive,” McGrath says.
“It’s funny, over the last 10 or 12 years, any time we’ve had a bit of success for Tipp, it kind of coincided with a not-so-good year for Loughmore.
“To go from one to the other and end up with an All-Ireland and a county in the same year, it’s unreal – that’s the thing in your ideal world or your dream scenario to come to reality.
“It’s mad and I can appreciate it, but equally, it’s the kind of thing that I won’t really grasp the enormity of it for a few years yet.”
Blood donation
You could say that McGrath got every last drop out of the year and that was the theme of his recent return to Croke Park, promoting the Every Drop Counts campaign on behalf of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.
Oisín Kelly, a young hurler from Carlow, who died from cancer in 2023, was the driver of the push to encourage blood donation and McGrath is honoured to be associated with his lasting legacy.
“It’s a very worthwhile campaign,” he says.
“The family has done huge work and it’s great to be able to give some time to help them promote it.
“It’s something that’s going to touch most families around the country at some stage but it’s probably not until it affects someone that you know that it really hits home.
“I hope that they get the response that they need. The GAA is all about families and communities and helping each other out.”
That Oisín, despite his tender years and going through the worst thing imaginable, had the maturity and foresight to want to create something that would outlive him is a source of pride for his family, as his father Brendan outlined.
“We want people to donate,” he says, “young people in particular probably don’t see donation as relevant unless there’s a member of the family who needs it but if you’re young and healthy it’s not really on your radar. We’re trying to build that connection now, get people into the habit of donating regularly. We’re all touched by it.
“Oisín discovered first-hand how vital blood was – he was six-foot-four and typically needed 11-12 pints – so that blood had to be there on tap, ready for Oisín when he came out of the operation.
“The GAA have been fantastic in supporting this initiative, at club level, county level and here at Croke Park as well, there has been a really great reaction to it.”
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