Ken McGrath announces his retirement!

[anglocelt39]

another great great player that Waterford have given to hurling over the last 12 or 13 years together with Flynner and Tony Browne, my three favourites of the Deise team of that time. Thanks for the memories Ken and am sure he will stay involved on the sidelines.

[seafoid]

A great hurler and one that will be remembered 50 years from now. It is such a pity that Davy Fitz didn't
get the Waherford lads earlier. They should have won an all-Ireland. 

[Bord na Mona man]

A great hurler and one that will be remembered 50 years from now. It is such a pity that Davy Fitz didn't get the Waherford lads earlier.

Davy Fitz!
If Donal O'Grady had managed Waterford instead of Cork a few years back, they'd have won a couple of All Irelands.

[AZOffaly]

A great hurler and one that will be remembered 50 years from now. It is such a pity that Davy Fitz didn't get the Waherford lads earlier.

Davy Fitz!
If Donal O'Grady had managed Waterford instead of Cork a few years back, they'd have won a couple of All Irelands.

All I remember is you roaring at Joe Bergin to 'retire him (McGrath)' at Thurles a couple of years ago. Took a while

[Bord na Mona man]

A great hurler and one that will be remembered 50 years from now. It is such a pity that Davy Fitz didn't get the Waherford lads earlier.

Davy Fitz!
If Donal O'Grady had managed Waterford instead of Cork a few years back, they'd have won a couple of All Irelands.

All I remember is you roaring at Joe Bergin to 'retire him (McGrath)' at Thurles a couple of years ago. Took a while

I was like David McWilliams calling the end to the boom about a decade before it happened! 

[Top of the hill]

One of my all time favourite hurlers. Truely inspirational on his day.

A pity he never got the all-ireland he so greatly deserved.

[orangeman]

Great piece about Mc Grath in an extract in today's Independent :


While Fitzgerald's suspension reduction was a victory of sorts, the prevailing mood in Waterford has been one of sadness and loss after the retirement of Ken McGrath from inter-county hurling. This is not confined to Waterford; hurling lovers of all shades and delectations will mourn the departure of an accomplished artist from the stage. As often happens, the end was prosaic. He started against Cork in the National League last Sunday at midfield, but was substituted early in the second half and after a couple of days announced his decision.

The last couple of years have been frustrating as he failed to reach the heights of splendour to which he had been accustomed, bedevilled by serious knees injuries which slowed his reactions to the point where he wasn't nearly the hurler he had been.

"I honestly feel my time has passed for inter-county hurling," he explained. "I know the standard of fitness I need to have and to be honest with you I don't think I have it any more. The last thing I wanted to do was get a roasting from a young fella in the summer in Croke Park. I was a proud hurler for 14 or 15 years and I felt I was close to the top of it and I feel it's time to move on. It's gone now."

Being taken off against Cork, and his struggle to keep up with the pace of the game, seems to have resolved an issue playing around in his head for some time.

McGrath was a Waterford hurler in the classic mould with an irreverent and cavalier style that can be traced back to the matinee idols of the 1950s. Like all the great practitioners, he perfected a style uniquely his own, capable of conjuring up tricks and memorable feats that stand the test of time. The epic catch -- to hold back the force of Cork in the last seconds of a thrilling 2004 Munster final -- is one of many heroic moments from a colourful career. Moments of wild and wasteful shooting were also to be seen from time to time, it came with the territory of being a player who played direct and instinctive hurling; he didn't play the percentages, especially in the first half of his career.

In the 2002 Munster final, in which he scored seven points from play, it took him a while to register the first point and before he did you could see the frustration getting to him in his body language. These composure quibbles cannot taint the majesty of his hurling for the most part. He had versatility, longevity, great technical range, and that delightful flamboyance which charmed audiences well beyond Waterford and Mount Sion.

His overhead striking, an old and once prized but now virtually extinct art, and a wonderful visual skill, looked anathema to the modern possession game where risk is reduced and less given to chance. Even his tendency to use that stroke seemed to fade as his career moved on, perhaps a sign that he had to bow to convention to some extent. But to see him strike a ball in flight like this illustrated how much a master he was of sweet harmonies and rhythms of eye and wrist in the most trying of battles and pressure situations. Like all the great players, he seemed to have more time than was apparent to the rest of us.

Fittingly, he made his debut in 1996 at Walsh Park, a place not far from his own beloved stomping ground. They lost to Tipperary and exited the championship but the tide was turning. A year earlier in Cork, they had been annihilated by Tipperary; 12 months later they were competitive and McGrath's debut gave them hope of a better future. Heavy beatings that went back to the Munster final calamities of the early 1980s were made a thing of the past. From 1996 that changed, with the exception of the 2008 All-Ireland final, and McGrath was a central part of that revolutionary change.

It will be said that he did not win an All-Ireland final, nor the team of players he shared the journey with, and that is undoubtedly a regret. Even the privilege of playing in an All-Ireland final was destroyed by Kilkenny's extraordinary performance. But the great hurling days when Waterford raised the hair with their play, often inspired by McGrath, have established the game at a level of prominence in the county undreamt of when he started playing at 17. He was a wonderful ambassador and hurling will be the emptier for his departure.

[Shauncelt]

A real Classy hurler who was the backbone for Waterford for many a year,Starred in the greatest game i ever watched Munster final 04,thanks for the service to the game of hurling Ken!