There are cool cucumbers, there are calm killers, then there’s Tipperary’s John McGrath.
The most prolific forward in hurling makes a mockery of the age-old notion that you have to go bald-headed into every ball to survive. That you have to have the hair standing on the back of your neck to make it, that you have to have fire burning in the belly to last in the cauldorn, because with ice lining the veins, he coolly and calculatedly waits for the right moment. Then he puts out the fire.
And when he strikes, he makes it count. Every single time.
The Loughmore-Castleiney forward makes the game of hurling look easy. Never in a hurry, seemingly never burdened by the pressure that just comes with such big championship occasions, he floats around the forward line in front of 40, 50 thousand frantic souls as if he’s out pucking in his back garden of a Sunday morning.
And sometimes, his borderline non-plussed composure will extend to a fault, where a more revved up defender beats him to one ball, but in the long run, Tipperary supporters needn’t worry because John McGrath will get the next one, and the next one again.
All you have to do is look at last weekend’s narrow escape against Cork where McGrath must have made three successful tackles on defenders in the second half, where he knocked two more with aggressive shoulders, that he has that bite in him. The difference between him and others is that he knows exactly when to take a step back and curtail it.
Because where his marker is worked up, the Fitzgibbon Cup Hurler of the Year is level headed, he’s thinking. Then when he gets the ball into his hand, it looks as if he has all the time in the world, it looks as if the play just freezes in his eyes as he goes about the best way of doing this.
That’s why John McGrath barely ever takes on a shot he shouldn’t, that’s why he barely ever hits a ball wide.
We knew his shooting stats would be impressive, we did, however, think they’d leave room for human error. On the back of the quality heat map created by hurling statistician Barry Cleary on McGrath’s shooting positions and success rates, it’s fairly clear that he’s not like the rest of us.
So far this year, despite the sharpshooter drifting further out the field to the half forward line, his freakish accuracy has remained in tact. The stats appear to show that, out of 24 shots, he’s scored 23 times.
Based on the stats of other inter-county forwards, McGrath was expected to score 15 times. He scored 23 of them.
And that ruthless efficiency was there last year too.
John McGrath -Shooting Heat Map – 2017 Inside line …. 2018 Half Forward Line – Actual Pts v Expected Points – RIDICULOUS. He has a game cheat code. There is no more deadly hurler than @mcgrathjohn10. #gaa pic.twitter.com/v0dbmjfD71
— Barry Cleary (@sheikhbarabas) May 29, 2018
That productivity wins games when it comes down to it and it just goes to show that every team should give their most cold blooded forward the licence to take on a shot whenever they got the chance. Let them play off instinct, let them roam to wherever they want. Set them free.
Michael Ryan has clearly employed that tactic with his gem and it’s reaping the rewards.
Cool as you like, composed, calm and collected. There is no hurler deadlier than John McGrath.
