McGrath embraces pressure game as Premier answer call

Long before Noel McGrath made his senior inter-county debut with Tipperary in 2009, anyone with even the faintest knowledge of hurling knew this kid was going to be a star.

In 2006, as a 15-year-old, he had been one of the stars of the Tipperary All-Ireland-winning minor side, went on to win another in 2007 and in fact only barely missed out on playing four years of minor hurling, his birthday falling on December 17.

In 2009, he was the young hurler of the year and an All-Star as Tipperary ran Kilkenny oh so close in the All-Ireland senior final. A year later and his reputation was cemented, another All-Star but this time also a Celtic Cross to go with it, and an All-Ireland U21 title to cap it all off — all achieved while he was still a teenager.