Tipp's Noel McGrath reflects on going from 'the low to the high' in eventful two years

Noel McGrath has admitted he’s “gone from the low to the high” in the space of two remarkable years on and off the field.

Easter Monday marked the two-year anniversary of the Tipperary star going under the knife for testicular cancer surgery.

The contrasting emotions of both occasions couldn’t be more apparent as McGrathspent last Monday reflecting on his 2-2 haul that helped see off Wexford in the Allianz league semi-finals.

To add to the sense of anniversary, it was the Wednesday before the league semi-finals of 2015 that news of the 24-year-old’s diagnosis was broken to stunned team-mates.

Two years on, he’s collected a second All-Ireland medal and is on course for a first Allianz League success this weekend.

“From the low to the high,” observed McGrath. “Of maybe at one stage wondering would I ever play hurling, for club or county, again, to getting back and being onthe pitch again.

“Just getting that buzz of running out in front of big crowds and wearing the jerseys again is massive. It’s really great to be back involved.

“The health is good. Whether I’m fully fit or not is another question! But, yeah, look, it’s all good again. It’s two years now since I was out for a while with the illness.

“It’s great to be back and feeling good and getting out playing on the pitch again, whether it’s for club or county. I’m just delighted to be back playing.”

It has made it all the sweeter that Noel is playing alongside his brother, John, in a Tipp attack that is scoring goals and points for fun.

John also struck 2-2 against Wexford as Tipp pulled clear with a barrage of goals in the closing minutes.

“It’s great to have him there beside you,” said Noel. “But at the end of the day, he’s another player for Tipperary. Whether he’s my brother or not, everyone needs to perform and everyone needs to do their best.”

Noel’s 18th minute goal for Tipp on Sunday was overshadowed by the frenzied reaction of Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald who ran onto the pitch to complain about an apparent infringement in the build-up.

Fitzgerald jostled Tipp’s Jason Forde before eventually returning to the sideline and awaits a disciplinary decision.

“It wasn’t until afterwards, and the morning after, that you see all the articles and see things on social media that you realise what did happen,” said McGrath, who acknowledged the show of aggression may have fired up the Wexford players.

“Maybe it did. They got to within a few points at half-time. People use these things in different ways. If that’s the way it worked for Wexford, then fair play to them.

“That’s what you have to do, you have to use small little things to get you to perform the best you can. It was a really, really tough game. It was only in the last 10 minutes that we got the breaks and pulled away.”

Galway, who Tipp face on Sunday, are managed by Micheál Donoghue who had a two-season spell in the Tipperary backroom team when Eamon O’Shea was in charge.

“He was top quality, his drills and training sessions were very good,” said McGrath. “That’s obviously one of the reasons he got in with Galway, because of the way he is able to get a team going.”

But Galway defender Aidan Harte rejected the idea that they will have any greater insight than normal into how Tipp operate.

“Insider knowledge or not, you’re getting to see teams a lot these days anyway,” said Harte.

“Every game now is videoed. You’re seeing clips of players. And then things change, different players come into teams and stuff so I wouldn’t say it’s inside knowledge as such.”

Galway have lost just one of their seven league games this season but it was a crucial one, against Wexford in February, a result that ultimately cost them promotion from Division 1B.

“Promotion was top of the pile for us,” admitted Harte. “You want to be playing the best teams. That didn’t happen for various reasons. But what are you going to do, down tools in February or pick it up again? That was the obvious thing we had to do. We took it game by game and we’re delighted to be in a final now, trying to cut the time between league and Championship.”