‘Winning this League title at Nowlan Park would matter more than others’
THIS coming Friday marks the 10th anniversary of Tipperary’s last win over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park. A lot has happened in that decade. Liam MacCarthy crossed into the Premier County twice, once after halting the Cats’ bid for immortality in 2010.
And there has been a bit of flux in the Tipp squad. Séamus Callanan is the only survivor from that April afternoon and the former Hurler of the Year won’t be togged today as he recovers from a back injury. But there are parallels to be drawn between then and now.
Shane McGrath was a key part of that Tipp team and he reckons the five-point win over Kilkenny, who were in the middle of claiming four All-Ireland titles in a row, was an important step for the team that Liam Sheedy was developing, as it was their first significant victory.
‘It was a bit of a turning point for that team, alright,’ recalls McGrath, who retired in 2015. ‘It was Liam’s first year in charge and most of us had never beaten Kilkenny in a competitive match. Not only that but we had taken a few bad trimmings off them in the previous couple of years.
‘So, it was huge for that group to go down there and beat them. It confirmed to us that we could be competitive with anyone, because if you can beat Kilkenny in Kilkenny, you shouldn’t fear anyone.’
Since then, Nowlan Park has been a source of pain. The following season, they returned for a League encounter and Kilkenny hit 5-17 past them in a 17-point victory. In 2013, with McGrath as captain, they crossed the border twice within three months — for a League final defeat and that famous qualifier that has been mythologised as Ireland’s own version of Ali-Frazier. Even when they scored five goals, as they did in the 2014 League encounter, they still could not win. No wonder Tipp folk believe there’s a hex in the Marble City.
McGrath played midfield for that back-door game in July 2013 and says the experience is something never to be forgotten.
‘I have never been in Glasgow for an Old Firm game, but the atmosphere that evening was similar to what I would expect at Celtic-Rangers, there was such a buzz around the ground,’ he said.
That said, McGrath admitted he didn’t have a great game. ‘I wasn’t having a good season. I was putting too much pressure on myself because I was captain of the team.’
‘I was delighted when Eamon [O’Shea] made me captain. It was a tremendous honour but some lads are cut out for captaincy and others aren’t. If you look at Pádraic Maher now, he’s the perfect example of someone thriving in the role.
‘I had never been in that role before and a lot goes with captain. It’s your duty to make sure every member of the squad is okay, there is much more communication with management and with players on the field. The following year, the captaincy was taken off me and I had one of my best years for Tipp. Okay, we didn’t win the All-Ireland but personally, I had a great year and hope I led the lads that year with how I played on the pitch.’
‘It is hard to put your finger on,’ McGrath said of Tipp’s poor record in Kilkenny. ‘You see it across every sport that teams rise to the occasion when they play certain rivals. That’s what happens when Kilkenny play Tipperary. Both teams bring out the best in each other, it is just that Kilkenny have brought an extra edge, especially when they play at home.
‘Kilkenny possessed a mental steeliness in our battles, certainly from 2009 onwards. Maybe we were worried too much about what we needed to do to beat them while they just went and hurled for most of those games.
‘There have been 10 national finals between the counties in the past 10 years, and the scoreline is 7-2 to Kilkenny with one draw.
‘So, this is a big game for this Tipperary team. It is a chance for them to lay down a marker. Some League titles matter more than others. It mattered that we won the League in 2008 because it was the first thing we won under Liam and it will matter to this team because Mick [Ryan] has tried an awful lot of new lads this spring and it would be nice if they got a medal at the end of it.’
More significant, though, will be ridding this idea of Tipp not being able to win in Nowlan Park. If they do that, then we can truly say there is something different about Ryan’s team this season.