Cyril Farrell tips Joe Canning for hurler of the year but rues Gearóid McInerney omission

Cyril Farrell has tipped Joe Canning to win hurler of the year — but believes Galway’s Gearóid McInerney should have been one of the three players nominated.

McInerney was a hugely influential figure in ending Galway’s 29-year All-Ireland famine, holding Austin Gleeson scoreless on the afternoon of the decider. The 26-year old was similarly authoritative in the semi-final win over Tipperary and was rewarded for his efforts on that occasion with the man of the match crystal.

On RTÉ’s The Sunday Game on the night of the final, all seven panelists — Farrell, Michael Duignan, Brendan Cummins, Tomás Mulcahy, Anthony Daly, Jackie Tyrrell and Eddie Brennan — selected McInerney as their outstanding hurler of 2017, as did Tommy Dunne and Daithí Regan on Newstalk’s Off The Ball. Rather crucially, though, the All-Star committee did not view him to be among the top three hurlers, with Canning, along with the Waterford pair of Kevin Moran and Jamie Barron, the preferred nominees.