'I would not be giving him an inch' - how John McGrath's goal-scoring genius sets him apart 

Lar Corbett didn't see his countyman's rise to the top of the game coming - but says he's one of the most intelligent operators around.

Tipperary's John McGrath and Waterford's Mark Fitzgerald at Walsh Park last month. Pic: INPHO

Lar Corbett had one season seeing John McGrath up close and personal. Not for the life of him did he expect him to follow in his footsteps as a hurler of the year.

“I just remember him from training inside with Tipp in 2015,” recalls the 2010 hurler of the year, of the man who emulated him 15 years later. “He didn't strike me as someone that would get to do what he's doing now. I just didn’t see it. I didn’t think he was going to be as good as he was.”

Sure, Corbett recognised McGrath’s composure on the ball and his strength but nothing to believe he would pillage the Waterford defence in the following season’s Munster final for three goals.

Jump on nine years and McGrath’s eight goals in last year’s championship were one more than Corbett’s seven in 2011 and two better than his ’10 haul. It equalled Seamus Callanan’s goal-every-game return in 2019.

The Loughmore-Castleiney man is obviously not blessed with Callanan or Corbett’s speed but in thought the latter believes there are few quicker.

“I’ve never seen anyone inside with the awareness that he is. His brother Noel has it out the field and he has that extra second but inside your time is short. John sees the next move before others. He just has that way about him.

“He’s so subtle too. The goal he got going down the endline in Ennis last year, he was able to lose the back with his footwork. Most forwards are busting a gut to get the ball. John McGrath doesn’t even look like he’s breaking stride. It just shows you the quality of the man, if he's able to do that, because otherwise he'd be off the field.

“He had two goal chances inside the first 12 minutes against Clare last year and he could have had a hat-trick by half-time. Clare don't protect their full-back line and I’ll tell you one thing, if I was playing against John McGrath, I would not be giving him an inch.

“He's such a peculiar running style, it's like he's fooling you into going slow motion and taking it easy. And then he just wins a ball, turns nice and he’s one-on-one with the goalie.

“When he gets inside the 21, he's looking around. He’s very much like Shane O’Donnell because he can sum up the options around him very quickly, if there is a player in a better position. So sharp in deciding to slow up and let another man pass him out and create a two-on-one or take it on himself.

Tipperary's John McGrath and Waterford's Mark Fitzgerald. Pic: ©INPHO

“He knows the percentages. He holds it and holds it, and you’d often see him tipping it over the bar there in a kind of a lazy way and he’s nearly disappointed as if, ‘Jesus, I’ve nothing else on.’ You can see it in his strike that he had hoped for better.” Corbett loves how McGrath has the basics down to a tee and the ability to dictate a scenario. “If you look at the All-Ireland final last year, for the first of his goals, he let on to pull on the ball and then didn’t. Nine times out of 10, people would take that chance as soon as it presented itself.

“John slowed the whole thing down and righted himself and just caressed the ball into the net. He almost walked around the goalie. If I tried to do that, there’d be hooks and blocks and you’d be going 100 miles an hour to avoid them. Not John. He doesn’t need to.” A paid-up member of the inside forwards union, Corbett was disappointed to see McGrath taken off early against Cork. He started again against Waterford and scored four points, seeing out the entire game.

For the threat he poses and the list of defenders he has troubled (Conor Leen, Eoin Downey), he has to stay involved, according to Corbett. “When that ball goes in around John McGrath, I think that everyone sits on the edge of their seat. I think he's the best in the game at creating a goal chance out of nothing and that’s for club and county. You need John McGrath inside.

“I thought Liam Cahill was a bit hard on him taking him off early against Cork. If you’re playing a two-man full-forward line, there’s none better than John McGrath to go out to the corner with a back and create something. There’s none better to stick a chance or hold it up for the runner.

“There’s no way I would have taken him off against Cork. The hurler of the year. No way. When your team don’t look like getting a goal, John McGrath will get it for you either by creating or scoring it.”