All-Stars: Seven gongs for Tipp as Maher emulates Premier greats
For the third time in six seasons, All-Ireland champions Tipperary have picked up seven PwC All-Stars.
Just like they did in 2014 when they were runners-up and ’16 when they claimed the Liam MacCarthy Cup, the county accounts for almost half of the team.
Emulating their achievements three years ago, Cathal Barrett, Pádraic Maher, Ronan Maher, and Seamus Callanan have claimed awards — Pádraic Maher and Callanan also won accolades in 2015.
Jason Forde can consider himself unfortunate to miss out.
Barrett is Tipperary’s 100th hurling All-Star of all time while Brian Hogan, Brendan Maher and Noel McGrath join them in this year’s line-up.
Captain Callanan is the only Tipperary forward selected, just as Graeme Mulcahy was for Limerick when they were All-Ireland champions last year. Every year Callanan has been awarded an All-Star, he has been nominated for hurler of the year.
As expected, considering he is a nominee for the solo award alongside Callanan and TJ Reid, Patrick Horgan is an All-Star, his third consecutive accolade and his fourth in total. Unusually, Horgan and Seán Finn are the only representatives from last year’s 15.
The Cork forward is joint most celebrated hurler in the All-Stars scheme, behind Waterford’s John Mullane, never to have won an All-Ireland SHC medal. The likes of Wexford’s Martin Quigley, Waterford’s Michael “Brick” Walsh, and Gary Kirby of Limerick have also won four gongs.
As 2018 runners-up, Galway picked up three All-Stars and this year’s finalists Kilkenny have the same representation this year in the form of Pádraig Walsh, Reid, and Colin Fennelly.
For the first time since 2004, when Damien Fitzhenry was All-Star goalkeeper, Wexford are included with Diarmuid O’Keeffe and joint-captain Lee Chin.
Not since their All-Ireland-winning year of 1996 have they claimed more than one.
After some excellent performances this summer, full-back Liam Ryan is unfortunate not to be included with his team-mates.
There are four first-timers in the team — Hogan, O’Keeffe, Chin and Aaron Gillane, who just missed out on one last season. Interestingly, six of the team are in their 30s, four of them forwards. The sextet are Brendan Maher (30), Pádraic Maher (30), Reid (31), Fennelly (30), Callanan (31) and Horgan (31).
Lorrha-Dorrha man Hogan emulates his father, former Tipperary goalkeeper Ken who was a winner in 1987.
They are the third father-son pairing to win after Richie Power Sr and Jr and Phil ‘Fan’ and Philly Larkin. It is the first time in hurling that a father and son have won an All-Star in the same position.
In claiming his sixth All-Star, Pádraic Maher is now the joint most individually honoured hurler outside of Kilkenny.
In the all-time All-Stars hurling list, he is level with his fellow county men Nicky English and Eoin Kelly as well as Limerick’s Joe McKenna (Cork’s Jimmy Barry-Murphy earned two in football and five in hurling).
Ahead of them, there is Henry Shefflin (11), DJ Carey and Tommy Walsh (nine), JJ Delaney and Noel Skehan (seven).
There are three former young hurler of the year recipients in this year’s team, all from Tipperary — McGrath (2009), Brendan Maher (2010) and Barrett (2014).
Four of the All-Stars team are in club championship action this weekend — Brendan Maher lines out for Borris-Ileigh against Kiladangan in the Tipperary senior final, Barrett’s Holycross-Ballycahill play JK Brackens in the county’s “B” Seamus Ó Riain Cup decider, while Walsh is in Leinster intermediate action for Tullaroan against Rosenallis, as are Reid and Fennelly for Ballyhale Shamrocks against Clonkill in the provincial senior championship.
The identity of the hurler and young hurler of the year will be revealed at the televised All-Stars gala in Dublin’s National Conference Centre tomorrow evening.
Kyle Hayes (Limerick), Adrian Mullen (Kilkenny) and Rory O’Connor (Wexford) are the nominees for the young hurler of the year.
The All-Stars football team for 2019 will be announced at the event along with the footballer and young footballer of the year. Dublin trio Stephen Cluxton, Jack McCaffrey, and Con O’Callaghan are up for the top honour.
The shortlist for young footballer of the year (U20) is Rian O’Neill (Armagh) and Kerry pair David Clifford and Seán O’Shea.
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