"This guy is one for the future"- Shane McGrath heaps praise on Tipperary youngster
McGrath believes that youngster Cathal O'Reilly will play a key cog in the senior set up for 2026
Tipperary might have started their league campaign with a win against Galway last weekend but former midfilder Shane McGrath believes that the Tribesmen can take more from the result.
"I think it was a win for Galway in a lot of ways, albeit they didn't get the result," McGrath said on the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"This time last year in Salthill, Micheál Donoghue tried something similar. He gave a lot of new faces and lesser known guys a go. And it didn't work at all.
"What happened after that was he just kind of had to go back to the tried and trusted.
"Whereas the other night, all the guys he gave a go to, they did brilliantly.
"Liam Cahill even said it, in comparison to where they [Galway] were last year, there's great progress being made. They've a new bunch of lads coming through."
READ NEXT: REACTION: 'You have to have a big panel' said Liam Cahill after Tipp’s League win over Galway
The All-Ireland champions will look to make it two wins in a row this weekend when they make the trip to Offaly but McGrath believes that youngster Cathal O'Reilly will play a key cog in the senior set up for 2026
"Tipp did what they had to do and the bigger guns stood up. I thought Jake Morris was brilliant," McGrath said
"Job done for Tipp. Liam Cahill wanted to get a win and he got the win.
"He tried a couple of guys. It didn't work out for Jack Leamy. Just didn't fall for him but Jack is going to be good.
"In Cathal O'Reilly, we have a serious defender. This guy was captain of the minors two years ago, he was on the 20s last year. He's the kind of a fella, he'd smile at you while absolutely tattooing you at the same time.
"This guy is one for the future. He's going to push the likes of Robert Doyle or Mikey Breen to go to another level. Because if they don't, Cathal O'Reilly is going to come into the fold. So that was a big positive for Tipp as well."