Superstar power: The hurlers who have lit up this decade

Picking the comparative, up-to-that-stage Hurling XV of the Noughties this time a decade ago was an exercise competed in 30 seconds, if even that.

A result of the shadow cast by Kilkenny and Cork and/or because the hurling of that decade was of a higher quality? Or was today’s iteration harder to settle on because the current game is less predictable and therefore more interesting?

Probably both, and probably in equal measure. Anyway, chances are you’ll disagree wildly with at least three positions on our updated XV from 2014. Fair enough. The best course of action is to regard this as a working document, one in which goalkeeper, full-back and centre-back were all horribly difficult positions to fill but should be easier to decide on at the end of the decade.