Pretenders to the throne circle for Colm Cooper’s crown

To mark the last year of the All Ireland quarter-finals as we know them – at least for three years anyway, with the arrival of the Super Eight next July – this column spent last week counting and recounting the great individual scoring tallies of players in the All Ireland series since the first of those quarter-finals back in 2001.

As well as reviving memories of players and matches in the past, the exercise also gave us a greater appreciation of what players we have at present – and offering up clues and trends as to what happens in the future, starting as soon as this upcoming weekend.

Should Bernard Brogan next Saturday repeat his Leinster final trick of scoring five points from play, he will join Colm Cooper as the only player to score 40 points from play in the All Ireland quarter-final round.