Tipperary Hurler Shane McGrath believes there was an ‘overreaction’ in Tipperary to the Premier County’s shock defeat to Cork in the Munster Championship.
Tipp are currently preparing for their All-Ireland Championship encounter with Waterford today, and midfielder Shane McGrath believes that it will be a ferocious battle.
“You could name 10 Waterford lads that have All Stars. Everyone knows their team, everyone knows who their big players are. So what can you say – we’re expecting nothing but a ferocious battle the next day,” McGrath said
“We were up there two years ago and before anything happened they hit us hard and we had no answer for them. They won the match that day.”
Tipperary have recovered in the Championship, following a heavy defeat in the first round against Cork. Tipperary came in for a lot of criticism, in the Premier County, after that match. Some of it McGrath feels was over the top.
“There was overreaction, everyone thought this was the end of the team, calling for lads to retire, calling for new lads to come in and all this.
“But that’s Tipperary for you – fans expect you to be winning every day. There is tradition in Tipperary but we haven’t won that many cups in the last couple of years so the reaction was probably over the top.
“Better was the reaction of people closely involved, family and friends of the players – they were texting us saying ‘heads up, you’ll be back’. It’s great getting 10 or 12 text messages the day you win the match but it is the day you lose you really appreciate the messages and support.”
