Noel McGrath: All-Ireland semi-finals should be replayed

By Paul Keane

Tipperary star Noel McGrath reckons the GAA got it wrong by sending last Sunday’s Limerick-Cork hurling classic to extra-time instead of a replay.

The first semi-final between Galway and Clare a day earlier ended in stalemate after extra-time so a second date has been pencilled in for this weekend. But McGrath, part of the Tipp team that drew the 2014 All-Ireland final with Kilkenny, necessitating a replay, said the occasion deserved a replay and not an extra 20 minutes.

A replay would have favoured Cork as they were outscored by 2-5 to 1-4 in extra-time and, according to Rebels legend Diarmuid O’Sullivan, their “lack of impact from the bench caught up with them”.

“I would say a replay after full-time (is better),” said McGrath. “If you take a provincial final, it will go straight to a replay and the team that loses that still has a chance coming through the back door, whereas an All-Ireland semi-final is the last chance saloon. Like, if we’re going to get games like we did last Sunday, wouldn’t a replay be a great spectacle?

I think the GAA are probably trying to cut down on matches and get them finished on the day, and they have their reasons for that, which is fair enough. But from a player’s point of view, to get recovered and to get ready to go again, a replay would be my preferred option.

Cork conceded seven of the last eight points in normal time so went into extra-time under a cloud and lost a key man in Seamus Harnedy to injury shortly after play restarted. O’Sullivan was critical of the Cork management for sending a clearly fatigued Harnedy out for extra-time at all, while Shane Kingston and Daniel Kearney were reintroduced having been taken off in normal time.

“It can be tough on the body and you saw on Sunday there were players who went off and then came back on again,” continued two-time All-Ireland winner McGrath.

“It is tough on the body and I’m sure there are bodies that are still very, very sore, and will be for the week. The strain on your body after 70 minutes is tough. You train hard and I’m sure every team is fit enough to play for 90 minutes, but I just feel overall a replay would definitely be better. Earlier in the Championship when a safety net might be there (it’s different). But an All-Ireland semi-final is just such a massive occasion and the stakes are so high.”

The two-time All-Star was speaking at the launch of a partnership between the GAA and askaboutalcohol.ie.

Noel McGrath in action in this year's Munster Championship

Matchgoers at the All-Ireland football semi-final on August 11 will be asked to think about how alcohol affects their lives.

McGrath was asked at the event about a drinking culture which was rumoured to have existed around the Tipp hurling panel in the past. “I don’t think that is there at all,” responded McGrath. “It was something that was blown out of proportion from the outside. There are a lot of things talked about the outside the camp in Tipp, but inside we have as good a panel of players as you would meet, committed and prepared to do the best they can on and off the field for Tipp.”

Former colleague and 2016 All-Ireland winner Kieran Bergin complained earlier this year about the level of commitment required, telling the Irish Daily Star that “the level of commitment they are asking is basically give up drink for the entire year.

“No other sport is asking you to do that”.

McGrath denied that Tipp ever had an alcohol ban in place.

“I don’t think we have ever been told that there was a blanket (ban),” he said. “I think lads know themselves that they have to look after yourself.

You either want to play for Tipperary or you don’t. If you are not looking after yourself, you are letting yourself down, you are letting your team-mates down, you are letting the people around you down. You have to mind yourself and look after yourself and be able to perform out in Croke Park or in Semple Stadium in the big games.

Asked if he would personally go months without drinking, McGrath replied, ‘Yes’ and said it didn’t bother him, ‘No, not one bit’.

He said: “Listen, when it comes around to training, you just want to be in the best shape possible. We all know how you can feel if you have had a few drinks. You are just not able to function, basically.”