'Noel is an all time great. He makes a hard game appear absurdly easy'

NICKY English examines the textures and shades of Noel McGrath's career with the wonder of an art lover admiring the best of the Picasso canvasses presently exhibiting in Dublin.

- Roy CURTIS

There is an understanding that the body of work by which Tipp's old king of the summer is so smitten amounts to the fruit of an authentically-original talent, a timeless, priceless collection of masterpieces.

English, himself a six time All Star, the lamplighter who facilitated his county's memorable stepping out of a long darkness four decades ago, doesn't equivocate in his verdict: "Noel is an all time great. He makes a hard game appear absurdly easy.

"A magnificent and beautiful and soulful hurler."

Soulful feels like a perfect adjective, one that fits this most expressive and poetic athlete as snugly as his match-day helmet.

In an age largely defined by increased athleticism and power, McGrath stands out as a thoughtful, cerebral presence, a player who prefers to pick locks rather than deploy gelignite to blow them asunder.

An artist fighter.

Even on the most fevered days of two decades making magic (he won a first county title with Loughmore-Castleiney as a 16-year-old, so long ago Bertie Ahern was still Taoiseach), somebody for whom time seems to move at a more sedate pace.

The Modric of the ancient game, Pythagoras with a hurl, assessing angles, the twin precision instruments of his wrists and intellect allowing him to execute passes and scores conceived in the fantasy factory of his mind.

Scores that came in a measured, pulsating avalanche for his county, 5-189 his cumulative summer scoreboard contribution, the most recent an emotional late point that iced the sweetest of All-Ireland final cakes 12 weeks ago.

As considered and creative as a song writer, one who, in becoming the first Tipp player in more than half a century to win four senior All-Irelands, added to a greatest hits compilation that long ago arrived at a whole new horizon of lyricism.