Final heroes worthy of inclusion

AMAZING what winning an All-Ireland will do for your All Star chances.

Kilkenny eight, Tipperary four, Dublin two and Waterford one. That’s the final count in this year’s All Star hurling team. At the end of last August we did a little exercise here in the Irish Examiner where all the GAA guys were asked to choose their All Stars up to that point.

I went with a team that had four each from Kilkenny and Tipperary, one each from Waterford and Galway, and five from Dublin, the Allianz Hurling League champions. But that was then. One game was all that was left in the championship, just one game, but when the final tally was counted, that one game — the All-Ireland final — just has to carry so much extra weight.