McGrath loving life as Premier skipper

Three years ago Tipperary GAA adopted the policy of allowing the management to name the senior hurling captain.

For current skipper Shane McGrath it opened the door to an unlikely dream coming true.

“It’s such an honour. I’m from a very small place [Ballinahinch] and — realistically — we’re never going to be county senior champions so to be asked to be captain of the Tipp team is huge.

“In a few years’ time, when the likes of Eoin Kelly and these lads retire, just to say that you were captain of these guys is huge. It’s massive for my club at home, for my family and for myself.”

The dream doesn’t end there of course. Over the last few years Shane has been an integral part of a side that has won an All-Ireland, a league and four Munster titles so a realistic ambition for any Tipperary captain should be to lift a few trophies. It can start as early as this May, should Tipperary manage to overcome Clare this Super Sunday, then go on to win the final. Leading his team-mates up those steps, accepting the cup, breaking into the cúpla focail — McGrath has envisaged it all. “Yeah I do. You have to dream, don’t you? You do kind of visualise these things and that’s the dream.

“That’s everyone’s dream who’s captain or whatever, to walk up those steps, lift the cup and just to look down. And my Irish isn’t bad, in fairness. I’m a primary teacher in Lisnagry, in the parish of Ahane. I’m covering for a girl on maternity leave and hopefully something else will come up. I really like the school.”

The dream almost ended as quickly as it had begun for McGrath. In Tipperary’s first league game, away to Cork, he suffered a serious hand injury and initially he was preparing to be out for a few months. Thankfully, the subsequent x-rays proved negative.

“The doctor couldn’t believe when the x-ray came back and it wasn’t broken. I was really lucky. There’d be a lot of things going through your head. You’d be thinking, ‘I’m going to be out now for two months, am I going to get my place back? I’m supposed to be captain this year’.

“Lads are supposed to be looking to you as a leader but thank God, touch wood, everything worked out for me. The management were very supportive. They said, ‘If it is, it is and we’ll get through it together’ which is great to hear. It’s great too to get the texts from the lads, and even lads from other counties would text you. I saw with Colm O’Neill recently [the Cork footballer suffered third cruciate injury in five years], the support he got from a lot of county players is great. For something like that to happen to someone like Colm O’Neill, it’s heartbreaking for a guy. I really hope he recovers.”

For McGrath and Tipperary the road to their first silverware of 2013 is blocked this Sunday by up-and-coming neighbours Clare. Win and a place in the semi-final is assured. But indiscipline has become an issue of late.

“We’re not going out to give away the frees. We’re going out to be as aggressive as we can but as fair as we can at the same time. If you’re going out thinking about giving away frees, you’re trying to hold back. Your natural instinct is to go and close the guy down.”