Limerick cameo reassured Noel McGrath he can still compete at top level

The four-time All-Ireland medallist didn't play much this spring, but against Limerick in late February, he was Tipp's best performer.

REASSURED: Noel McGrath at St. Vincent’s GAA club in Dublin at Centra’s launch of the 2026 Senior Hurling Championship and the Centra GAA Sharpshooter Competition. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Noel McGrath says the strong form he displayed during his single start for Tipperary this year has reassured him that he'll be ready to go if called upon this weekend.

The veteran attacker was used mainly as an impact sub in last year's successful Championship campaign, and it's been the same so far this year.

But when the four-time All-Ireland medallist did get his chance, lining out against Limerick in late February, he scored six points from play and was Tipp's best performer.

McGrath, 35, didn't feature in their next Division 1A game, against Waterford, and came on in the final round draw with Kilkenny, meaning he's likely to be restricted to a bench role again for Sunday's Munster SHC opener against Cork.

Speaking at sponsor Centra's launch of the 2026 All-Ireland SHC, McGrath said he's content that he'll be ready to go when required.

"It was reassuring," said McGrath of his form against Limerick. "Because no matter what age I've been over the years, there's times when things aren't going well for you and you're asking yourself, 'Am I still able to do this?' or 'Am I still at the level? Am I able to compete with the lads that are a few years younger?' It is nice to be able to do that.

"That comes from training as well. Then when it comes to a match day, and you have a decent game, and you feel that you've done yourself justice, it does give you that confidence that you're still able to compete, that you're still at a decent level.

"So yeah, it does (give reassurance), there's no point in saying it doesn't."

McGrath acknowledged that it was a 'poor team performance' overall in that group encounter with Limerick though they only lost one other game, to Cork. Aside from that, they took three wins and a draw from the League.

Despite that relatively good form, a number of analysts including Donal Og Cusack and Patrick Horgan have been dismissive of Tipp with Cusack claiming the Premier 'can rise very fast but they also fall faster than anybody else'.

"At this stage in my career, I'm not going to lose sleep over people saying one thing or another," said McGrath of Cusack's comments. "It is what it is and that's just the way it goes. It's great that it creates talking points and gets people talking about the games and what's coming up over the next few weeks. It doesn't bother me much at all."

Likewise, McGrath suggested that Tipp's League form wasn't particularly out of sync with last year's, which preceded their All-Ireland win.

"We lost two games this year and we lost two games in the League last year as well, so there's not an awful lot of difference," said the three-time All-Star.

Winners will receive a €1,000 prize for their local GAA club plus the opportunity for their team to play at the 2026 Hurling for Cancer Research Charity Match later this year. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

"I suppose the fact that we got to the League final last year, maybe people would say last year was a better League for us than this year. Again, it's hard to gauge.

"Whatever happens over the summer will determine what people say about the League. If the summer goes well, or the Munster championship goes well, people will say, 'Ah, Tipp found players in the League'. If it doesn't go well, then people are going to say the League didn't serve its purpose for Tipp. That's the barometer that's there.

"Again, it's people's opinions, and what people want to talk about. That's fine with me and whatever they think of it, they'll think of it."

Tipp used 37 different players in all in the League, the joint highest level of experimentation across the two Division 1 groups, along with Clare.

"A lot of players got game time that haven't seen much League activity before," said the Loughmore Castleiney man. "That's what you need, exposure. The only way players are going to be judged, and that you'll see if they're able for that level, is by playing. I think Liam and the management team did that this year."

Tipp will host Cork this weekend and will hope to avoid a repeat of the 2024 shellacking inflicted by the Rebels. McGrath dismissed the weight of history.

"People will be talking about last year and what happened (in the All-Ireland final), blah de blah, but I don't think any of it is going to have any impact at all," he said. "Once the ball is thrown in, you don't get a second to think about anything, let alone to think about what happened before or in different games."