HE IS NO’ ORDINARY TALENT!

McGrath magical for Tipp

NOEL Mcgrath is listed at number 18 in the Tipperary panel that goes to Ennis tomorrow to face Clare in the first round of the Munster Championship.

There’s no way the Premier will start without their spiritual leader.

Liam Cahill and co have taken a novel and different approach to everyone else in naming their matchday squad.

Where Limerick named their strongest line-up as one to 15 in their panel, Tipp have gone with alphabetical order — bar goalkeepers Barry Hogan (one) and Rhys Shelly (16).

Anyway, suffice to say Conor Bowe (three) won’t be starting at full-back and Jason Forde (seven) won’t be left half-back...

A new rule this year means 26-man squads have to be with the GAA on Thursday and are now published on a Friday morning.

Only in exceptional circumstances can managers change one of the 26, but any of them can start.

McGrath (32) — a son of former Tipperary hurler Pat — won’t be too worried about his place.

Leadership

In the big spring win over Kilkenny at Nowlan Park when the Cats came with their familiar charge, Jason Forde did the scoring to keep them at bay — from placed balls and play.

But the real grunt and leadership came, yet again, from McGrath.

There haven’t been many better hurlers across the last decade and a half.

TJ Reid, probably.

Tony Kelly, perhaps.

Some of the Limerick lads.

That rare mix of hurling genius, work rate and leadership is what marks out the truly great players.

McGrath’s silky and powerful wrists have been as good as any.

Current Tipp skipper McGrath has hit 5-162 (177) in 62 Championship matches, averaging 2.85 points per game.

McGrath has been consistently brilliant since making his Tipperary debut as a 17-year-old in 2009.

He is remarkably resilient and rarely misses a game through injury.

It’s no accident either that his club Loughmore-Castleiney have been very successful in both codes over the past 15 years.

Remarkably, they won Tipperary senior doubles in 2013 and 2021.

McGrath holds seven senior Championships — four football and three hurling.

Level

He first made his mark at senior level as a 16-year-old in 2007, when he hit six points, including three from play, in a 0-22 to 0-13 win over Drom and Inch in the county senior hurling final.

A few weeks later he had a Munster senior medal after a 1-6 to 0-7 win over Clare’s Tulla.

Those with an eye on the underage scene would already have spotted a 15-year-old McGrath forcing his way into the starting line-up for Tipperary’s 2005 AllIreland minor final victory over Galway.

A three-year county minor, he made it back to back All-Ireland minor titles in 2006.

McGrath is also the holder of three All-Ireland titles, four Munsters and three All Stars and scored a goal the day Tipp stopped Kilkenny’s ‘drive for five.’

In 2015 he beat testicular cancer to return to the Tipp side as a sub in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Galway.

His career is all the more remarkable in that he has a late birthday, December 11 (1990), which tends to be a barrier to players.

Tipperary will know about it when he’s no longer there, but he doesn’t seem like the type that will be stopping any time soon.