John Fogarty: The hurling team of the year as it stands
ALL STAR: Darragh Fitzgibbon of Cork celebrates after the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Limerick and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
A new name will be on the Liam MacCarthy Cup later this month and for the first time in five years Limerick are unlikely to have the lion’s share of All-Stars.
Patrick Collins and Eibhear Quilligan will be trying to outdo him on July 21 but the Limerick sentinel was in tremendous form this season after an okay 2023 campaign.
Following an uncertain Munster final and All-Ireland quarter-final, Hogan on Saturday rediscovered his confidence that defined his earlier impressive performances.
A close-run thing with Huw Lawlor, Conor Cleary and Eoin Downey, one of the latter two should overtake him, but Morrissey was a most reassuring figure for Limerick.
What a breakthrough year Leen is having. He goes about his work quieter than Hogan but has been diligent in shutting down markers and initiating attacks.
You can see how Blanchfield has modelled parts of his game on Diarmaid Byrnes and he is developing his scoring ability too. He commanded his space in Leinster.
It will likely turn out that Ciarán Joyce is the long-term solution for Cork at centre-back but there can be no question Downey has filled the position with aplomb.
It was a compliment to Hayes that Cork tried to keep the ball as much away from him on Sunday. He had been in superb fettle across the Munster championship.
Trying to do with the work of others, the James Stephens man ran out of steam in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final. It was his best season yet in the black and amber.
The Charleville dynamo is back to his dynamic best of 2018. Twenty-two points in seven games is a most handsome total for a midfielder. Very much in the groove.
Two man-of-the-match awards against Clare in Munster including the final, he and Hayes drove Limerick to the six in a row. John Donnelly was in the shake-up.
The Blarney man was Cork’s best player during the group’s awkward period of illness across the Offaly and Dublin games. Before that, he had 1-7 to his name.
He wasn’t far behind Brian Hayes as Cork’s best player on Sunday. Continues to give his team a great ball-winning presence. Scored 1-10 across the four Munster games.
In how he knits the play, he rivals O’Donnell as Clare’s most creative forward and has 2-12 from play not to mention how he has deputised impressively as freetaker.
If you were to pick the three hurler of the year candidates right now, O’Donnell would be there alongside Fitzgibbon and Barrett. Simply an extraordinary hurler.
The Wexford captain played his best hurling in this year’s Leinster championship even if he faded towards the end. At times, it looked like he had the ball on a string.
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