Anthony Daly: All-Star team underlines how Limerick have lifted hurling to another level
Limerick's Sean Finn and Gearoid Hegarty celebrate after the All-Ireland final win over Cork. The pair are two of 12 of John Kiely's side to win All-Star awards. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
The first time I was nominated for an All-Star, in 1993, I felt like an imposter.
Ger O’Loughlin and I were the only Clare players amongst a sea of Kilkenny, Galway, Tipperary, and Cork fellas. Still, a handful of pints always dilutes paranoia and increases confidence.
We didn’t win any awards but by the end of the night, we were brave enough to be questioning some of the selections.
We bate Cork in their only Championship game that year. We played three Championship matches, but Cork still ended up with two All-Stars — Seánie O’Gorman and Barry Egan. Cork won the league. Back then, a league title almost guaranteed you one All-Star, but Cork got two because their league final against Wexford turned into an epic trilogy.
Nearly three decades on, playing five Championship matches and reaching an All-Ireland final wasn’t enough to secure Cork even one All-Star. Different time now boi.
Cork will be disappointed, but could they really argue either? Seán O’Donoghue was probably the one player in with a shout but, by all accounts, he was nowhere near securing enough votes to even enter the debate with Seán Finn and Barry Nash.
Limerick were the story of the Championship, but they’ve now become the story of the All-Stars by ripping up the history books and writing a whole new narrative.
The All-Ireland finalists always dominate the awards but selecting a dozen players from just one of those teams is certainly a new departure.
Bagging 12 awards seems outlandish but it could have been even more; Nickie Quaid was just edged out by Eoin Murphy; Dan Morrissey might have been selected at full-back if he hadn’t been on the bench for the early part of the Championship; Tony Kelly is Tony Kelly but would there have been any outrage if Aaron Gillane made the team?
Apart from Cork, Kilkenny won a great Leinster Championship and lost an epic semi-final to Cork and still only ended up with one All-Star.
Limerick’s grip on the team reflects the iron-grip they had around the middle third — the fact that the middle eight is made up completely of Limerick fellas just goes to show where they are winning, and how they are dominating matches.
Limerick’s dominance also illuminates the selection of the other three players. Murphy embellished his reputation with some incredible saves, especially against Cork. Conor Prunty was manful all season, especially in the All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick, and I’m also glad he has been rewarded.
As a Clare-man, I’m delighted for TK. It says a lot about the standard Tony has reached in how he can win successive awards despite Clare only reaching the last six and the last 12 in both of those seasons. You obviously have to do something special to merit inclusion, but Tony is a special player.
Winning an All-Star is always a special moment in any player’s career but it’s just a shame that these players haven’t been able to celebrate in the moment over the last two years. On the other hand, it’s also a real blow to all the players who were nominated because I always felt the awards night was a great acknowledgement of all your hard work and effort throughout the season. Just getting nominated was often nearly enough for me because I used to enjoy those nights so much. Hiring out the tuxedo and having the snaky couple of pints while the wife or girlfriend was gone to get the hair done all added to the whole mood of the evening.
The craic was deadly especially when you’d be meeting lads from the other counties. That was a real novelty in the early years, especially when there was only a handful of Clare fellas nominated. But as we got more successful, our numbers grew, which further added to the enjoyment of the whole night.
In that context, you could just imagine how unique it would have been for those 12 Limerick fellas to be on the same stage together tonight. Limerick are certainly the talk of everywhere now. From working in the bar, everyone I’ve spoken to is confident that Clare are as good as any other team out there, but there is still a recurring asterisk at the end of all those conversations — because everyone acknowledges that Limerick have gone to a new level.
And this year’s All-Stars team offers further proof of that new reality.
