JAKE MORRIS raised a toast to Noel McGrath as the ‘fine wine’ in Tipperary’s cellar continues to produce sparkling displays at the age of 34.
Tipp ace Morris is also hopeful that the conditions are ripe for the next crop of talent in the county to be harvested.
Darragh McCarthy, Oisín O’Donoghue and Sam O’Farrell have all played senior Championship hurling for the Premier in 2025.
They also had starring roles in the win against Kilkenny that saw Tipperary crowned All-Ireland Under-20 champions.
Morris, 26, said: “Getting another good day-out down in Nowlan Park and winning an All-Ireland, it’s great for the boys, it’s great for the county.
“They’re back in with us now with All-Ireland medals in their back pocket and they’re fresh and confident.
“It can only be a good thing.”
With their minors also defying two red cards in the final against the Cats to taste All-Ireland glory last year, the future appears to be bright.
Morris added: “Look, we’ve great hurlers coming through. It’s hard to say will we reap the rewards from it, it’s just about really being conscious and working hard and putting your best foot forward all the time.
“I think we do have the right structures in place at the minute to allow us to maybe let some of the young fellas flourish in the next few years.
“But there’s no shortage of hurlers in Tipperary and we just have to go one step at a time and stay doing what we’re doing.”
At the other end of the age spectrum, Tipperary are still also being well served by the only member of Liam Cahill’s panel who can boast of being a three-time All-Ireland winner.
Now in his 17th season on the senior inter-county beat, McGrath featured in all four Munster SHC games as Tipp secured a top-three finish to advance.
And Morris gushed: “Noel is worth so much to us inside there. He’s so good with all the younger lads, so good off the field. He’ll give you his last bit of energy.
“He’s just such a good lad to have around the dressing room and then you can see what he does on the field. He’s like a fine wine. He’s getting better.
“A really, really important player for us and he’s going to be again this weekend. He’s been such a good hurler for Tipperary over the years and he just continues to give and give and give.”
Tipp finished bottom of the provincial pile following a woeful 2024. But wins over Waterford and Liam MacCarthy Cup holders Clare, as well as a draw with Limerick, show improvements have been made.
Unless Laois pull off a seismic upset tomorrow afternoon, an All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway will await Cahill’s men next weekend.
But Morris insisted: “We can’t look past Laois now and that’s me being totally honest with you.
“We’ve seen the way hurling has gone nowadays. If you take your eye off the ball, you get done, so we’re just preparing for this weekend.
“But training has been going well. We’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect and learn from the Munster Championship, take away some areas that we need to improve on and just look at a bit of video and see what’s going well for us and what areas we can go after this weekend
