ALL STARS:THIS YEAR'S Vodafone All-Star hurling team reaffirmed the dominance of Kilkenny and illustrated how steep the slant in the Leinster hurling championship has been over the last few decades.
While Henry Shefflin was duly recognised with a record ninth award for another consummate season in the black and amber, Dublin’s Alan McCrabbe became the first metropolitan hurler to win an All-Star since Brian McMahon in 1990. Both Shefflin and McCrabbe contested the final of the revamped Leinster championship and McCrabbe was unquestionably a key figure in what was a significant year for Dublin.
As ever, the composition of the All-Star team reflects the narrative of the championship, with Kilkenny, champions for the fourth successive year, represented with six players, a return which may disappoint their followers.
The manner in which they reclaimed the MacCarthy Cup was controlled and professional rather than the sweeping, imperious way in which they won the title in previous years and the strong challenge Tipperary presented to Kilkenny in both league and championship was recognised in the four awards that went to the losing finalists.
It was notable that two of Tipperary’s recipients were among their least experienced players at senior level: Pádraic Maher’s reassured play at full back was recognised and at the other end of the field, the prodigious career of Noel McGrath continues with a place in the full-forward line alongside Galway’s Joe Canning and John Mullane of Waterford.
There were four additional first- time recipients: Kilkenny goalkeeper PJ Ryan, Tipperary’s Lar Corbett and the midfield pairing of Michael Rice and McCrabbe.
Shortly after the All-Ireland final, Rice, when asked if it had been his toughest All-Ireland, wryly replied it certainly had, as it had been his first. But the way the Carrickshock man responded to the investment of faith placed in him by Brian Cody and the Kilkenny selectors confirms the depth of talent within the Kilkenny squad.
Curiously, PJ Ryan becomes the first Kilkenny goalkeeper to win an All-Star gong since Michael Walsh back in 1993.
The decision by successive All-Star selection committees to repeatedly overlook the claims of James McGarry baffled those within Kilkenny hurling circles. Ryan’s case was clear-cut: he made a series of staggering saves in the All-Ireland final which made him the outstanding favourite for this year’s award.
The sniping quality of Eoin Larkin’s play – with the series of points that effectively killed off Galway in a memorable Leinster semi-final in Tullamore and similarly lethal points delivered late in the All-Ireland final – sees him join Shefflin and Lar Corbett in the half-forward line.
This is Shefflin’s eighth successive year as an All-Star: 2001 was the lone year he failed to make the team since collecting his first award in 2000. The Ballyhale man may well cheerfully note that records are there to be broken if he is quizzed about his achievement on the podium tonight.
That seems likely to be the case: his team-mate Tommy Walsh has been honoured for the seventh successive year and given he is coming into his peak years as an athlete, few would bet against him setting new records of accomplishment in the All-Star scheme.
There are few contentious selections on this team but as ever, the claims of other players might have been made.
A stunning All-Ireland final performance was not enough to tilt the balance in favour of Tipperary’s Eoin Kelly. Similarly, the veteran Kilkenny forwards Eddie Brennan and Martin Comerford caught fire at various times during the season but do not feature on what is a democratic forward selection.
Waterford went through an extremely uneven summer of hurling, often down but never quite out, as was evidenced in their startling come back against Tipperary in the Munster hurling final and their dramatic quarter-final eclipse of Galway. Mullane’s singular brilliance and heart-on-sleeve emotion made him one of the most compelling performers of the summer and his presence on this team was a given.
Joe Canning, who bears the burden of being the symbol of hope for Galway hurling, is named in the full-forward line for the second year running. His brother, Ollie, once again confirmed his first retirement was premature by nailing down a place at right corner back.
Canning won his first All-Star in 2003 and his second in 2005. The Canning boys are the first brothers to be named on the team since Ben and Jerry O’Connor in 2005.
Corbett enjoyed an injury-free and consistent year and added qualities of leadership and influence to his exciting attacking game and wins his first All-Star.
At tonight’s ceremony, Shefflin will join former team-mate DJ Carey and former Kerry footballer Pat Spillane on the list of players who have won nine All-Stars.
Once again, Kilkenny men have the most representatives but their presence is not as emphatic as last year, when they had nine players on the team.
This year’s team may add substance to the theory that the other counties are slowly but surely responding to the level of excellence Kilkenny have set but it does not change the fact that as the GAA season enters its awards and holiday period, the black and amber men remain the team to beat.
