Tipperary's Noel McGrath has said that that he intends to sign up for the Premier County’s All-Ireland defence in 2026.
The Loughmore-Castleiney star, who will hope to add another county title to his honours list in Sunday’s Tipperary SHC final against Nenagh Éire Óg, will be 35 when the action throws in next season – but the expectation is there for an 18th season in the blue and gold.
"We’ll explore more over the next few weeks and once that (the club season) finishes up, whatever way it goes, I'll settle down for a couple of weeks and see how things are; as long as it’s good at home with the family and that," said McGrath after being named the Gaelic Writers Association Dalata Hotel Group hurling personality of the year.
"Look, all going well, I'd love to give it another rattle again, but at the moment we'll see how things play out, but the plan will be to go again and see what happens, but we'll fully decide come November/December time when things settle down a bit more."
That pursuit of back-to-back Liam MacCarthy successes is sure to be a driving factor in any decision with the county’s last double coming all the way back in 1964/65 - the latter bringing John Doyle an eighth All-Ireland crown to move him alongside Cork’s Christy Ring as the most successful hurler in the sport’s history at that time.
Part one of the current team’s double came out of the blue though, few giving them a chance having finished bottom of the pile in the Munster round-robin in 2024.
A 15-point loss to Cork inthis year's provincial round-robin series did little to alter those expectations, but knockout wins over Laois, Galway and Kilkenny were followed by a dramatic reversal of fortunes against the Rebels in the final with McGrath coming on for the final 10 points and hitting a point in the 3-27 to 1-18 win – a 30-point swing in all between the two Cork games.
"It's always in your dreams and every day I go out as a player in a Tipperary jersey, I believe the team can win, so you're always thinking there is a chance here, there might be a chance, but you have to be realistic about things too and we needed to get our house in order," McGrath said about how they were being viewed.
"At that time in January, February, sure an All-Ireland and Tipperary weren't even being spoke about in the same bracket really, but the team just picked up momentum and results can change things very quick.
"When we went to Galway and won the first round of the league and beat Wexford the following week, you had two from two fairly quick, so that builds confidence and builds belief in what was being done and the training and players that were getting on the pitch and how well they were doing.
"We were very consistent throughout the league apart from the league final (a 10-point loss to Cork).
"I know we lost to Limerick as well but you were performing, you were doing well every day, so that just grew the belief. We were well off last year, we were well on it this year and that's just down to a lot of factors, that's what you can't even put your finger on."
Club matters, of course, are more pressing right now with small ball the sole focus after the footballers - with McGrath coming on in the 21st minute - were surprisingly dethroned at the semi-final stage last weekend by Kilsheelan-Kilcash.
It’s certainly been a whirlwind few weeks for the player on and off the pitch with his daughter Aoibhín born the day before their hurling semi-final win over Holycross-Ballycahill.
It feels like another blessing for the player and his wife Aisling, with his son Sam now two years old. It’s a decade on now since he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and the three-time All-Star admitted that it’s hard not to think back on those tough times.
"I got into a hard situation that nobody wants to be in, but I'm lucky enough that it wasn't long-term, it was relatively short-term in a lot of ways compared to other people and I got well looked after and I was lucky that it was caught on time and I got back to living a normal life and back to doing all the things I wanted to do.
"There’s probably not a day that goes by that I don't think of it in some way or another, but I'm just happy to be able to think about it and to be at this side of it now where I can enjoy myself and be grateful for it."
Watch the Dublin Senior Hurling Championship final, Na Fianna v Lucan Sarsfields, on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
