Limerick secure all three Hurler of the Year candidates, get 15 All-Star nominees
Diarmaid Byrnes, right, and Cian Lynch of Limerick, both nominated for All-Stars while Lynch is in the running for Hurler of the Year. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Limerick have equalled the all-time record PwC GAA-GPA All-Star nominations haul of 15, in turn emulating their impressive return from 2018.
Their collection is one more than last season’s and all three of the hurler of the year nominees hail from the All-Ireland winning team — three-time All-Star Seán Finn, former young hurler of the year Kyle Hayes and Cian Lynch who is aiming for his second such accolade in the space of four seasons.
It’s the third occasion in six seasons that all 15 of the Liam MacCarthy Cup victors have been honoured — Tipperary’s full complement comprised a third of the 45 in 2016.
Patrick Collins (Cork); Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny); Nickie Quaid (Limerick).
Rory Hayes (Clare); Mark Coleman, Robert Downey, Seán O’Donoghue, Tim O’Mahony (all Cork); Paddy Deegan, Huw Lawlor (both Kilkenny); Diarmaid Byrnes, Seán Finn, Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash (all Limerick); Cathal Barrett, Ronan Maher (both Tipperary); Kieran Bennett, Calum Lyons, Conor Prunty (both Waterford).
Cathal Malone, Tony Kelly (both Clare); Paddy Purcell (Laois); William O’Donoghue, Darragh O’Donovan (both Limerick); Jamie Barron (Waterford).
Seamus Harnedy, Patrick Horgan, Shane Kingston, Jack O’Connor (all Cork); Danny Sutcliffe (Dublin); Eoin Cody, TJ Reid (both Kilkenny); Peter Casey, Seamus Flanagan, Aaron Gillane, Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey (all Limerick); Jason Forde (Tipperary); Stephen Bennett, Austin Gleeson, Dessie Hutchinson (both Waterford); Lee Chin (Wexford).
Limerick 15, Cork 9, Waterford 7, Kilkenny 5, Clare 3, Tipperary 3, Dublin 1, Laois 1 Wexford 1.
Seán Finn, Kyle Hayes, Cian Lynch (all Limerick).
Aidan McCarthy (Clare), Shane Barrett (Cork), Eoin Cody (Kilkenny).
In its 50th year, the record number of hurling All-Stars is nine, which Limerick matched last season but following a dominant year they could break when the awards are announced in December.
The award for young hurler of the year, those who turned 21 or younger in 2021, will be contested by last year’s victor Eoin Cody of Kilkenny as well as Cork starlet Shane Barrett and Clare forward Aidan McCarthy.
The entire Limerick starting team that beat Cork in August’s final are included and their representation features all bar one of last year’s shortlisted players, Graeme Mulcahy, who came off the bench in the decider.
Peter Casey and Darragh O’Donovan were not nominated last season.
Of the 2018 nominees, Mike Casey and Richie English, who had injury-hit seasons, are not chosen this time around whereas William O’Donoghue and Barry Nash are in the mix.
For hurler of the year candidate Finn, it is a fourth consecutive All-Star nomination as he is in line to collect a fourth straight award.
Lynch is also among the 45 for a fourth consecutive year as is Hayes and Aaron Gillane.
It’s a third straight commendation for midfielder O’Donoghue.
Cork’s total of nine players is their best since 2013 when they lost the All-Ireland final replay to Clare and had the same number shortlisted.
In his first full season in goal, Patrick Collins picks up his first nomination.
He is accompanied by four defenders — Mark Coleman, Robert Downey, Seán O’Donoghue, and Tim O’Mahony — and four forwards — Seamus Harnedy, Patrick Horgan, Shane Kingston, and Jack O’Connor.
For captain Horgan, it’s a fourth nomination in five years as he seeks a fifth ever All-Star while Harnedy is seeking his third and Coleman his second. Kingston was the only Cork forward in the nominations last year.
As runners-up last year, Waterford claimed 10 and having lost to Limerick at the semi-final this season they accrue seven, Conor Prunty, Calum Lyons, Stephen Bennett, Stephen Bennett, Dessie Hutchinson, and Austin Gleeson all featuring again and another Bennett brother Kieran included on this occasion.
Leinster champions Kilkenny, whose season ended at the All-Ireland semi-final for the second year in a row, again have five, TJ Reid the only survivor from the 2020 quintet.
Eoin Murphy rivals Collins and Nickie Quaid for the goalkeeping spot with defenders Paddy Deegan and Huw Lawlor and forward Cody completing their total.
Ronan Maher is the only Tipperary player to feature on the last two lists and he is joined by Cathal Barrett and Jason Forde.
Yet again Rory Hayes, Cathal Malone, and Tony Kelly feature for Clare.
Dublin captain Danny Sutcliffe, Laois’s Paddy Purcell and Wexford co-skipper Lee Chin are also selected.
Nine counties are represented, one more than last year.
For the first time since 2013, Galway have no player in the 45.
The shortlists for hurler and young hurler of the year are voted by the selection committee with the players choosing who they regard as the best from the three in order of preference.
Players nominated in one area of the field can be picked for All-Star in another section of the field.
GAA president Larry McCarthy, who chaired the nomination selection meetings in Croke Park, said: “To be recognised and shortlisted as being among the cream of the crop from what was yet another thrilling hurling summer is a significant achievement for all the players, and is shared by their families, clubs, and the communities they represent.”
The hurling team will be revealed on December 9, the day before the awards ceremony in Dublin.
The football nominations will be published Friday morning.
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