John Kiely’s lean, green machine leads the way but, for once, holders can’t lord the headlines as top Cat Reid makes his mark as one of oldest hurling winners
Not for the first year, and probably not the last either, John Kiely’s lean, green machine dominate the PwC Hurling All-Stars narrative.
Limerick’s four-in-a-row exploits are rewarded with seven places on the 2023 team – two more than finalists Kilkenny, while beaten semi-finalists Clare (on two) and Galway (Conor Whelan their sole representative) complete the 15.
When you delve beneath those bare numbers, however, several statistical nuggets leap from this latest line-up, chosen by a panel of Gaelic games media and announced this morning.
And what better place to start that the inclusion of TJ Reid, winning a magnificent seventh All-Star on the very day that the Kilkenny talisman celebrates his 36th birthday.
Reid didn’t enjoy his finest hour in this year’s All-Ireland final – and he certainly won’t have enjoyed the outcome, a fourth successive final defeat since Kilkenny’s last coronation in 2015 – but he already had enough credit in the bank to secure his latest award, at centre-forward.
In doing so, he becomes one of the oldest All-Star hurlers – you must trawl back to 1983 when two fellow Kilkenny men, goalkeeper Noel Skehan (three years his senior) and Frank Cummins (a week older), made the final cut.
Vying with Reid’s individual accolade is the latest standout achievement of Limerick wing-backs Diarmaid Byrnes and Kyle Hayes, who win their fourth consecutive awards.
When Dublin’s Paul Flynn registered a similar landmark in 2014, he was viewed as something of a football outlier. However, it’s a more recurring feature in hurling where Kilkenny’s Tommy Walsh won an incredible nine straight All-Stars (2003-’11) and his team-mate Henry Shefflin claimed eight of his record 11 haul (2002-’09) in consecutive years.
More recently, Galway defender Dáithí Burke and currently injured Limerick corner-back Seán Finn won four in a row.
Still, the stellar consistency of Byrnes – in his perennial right half-back role – and Hayes – reverting to defence after a year in the forwards – is a testament to the enduring excellence of this Limerick team. And given that he’s still only in his mid-20s, Hayes especially has time on his side to add several more.
Despite producing second-half power plays to overrun Galway and then Kilkenny in the final, Limerick must satisfy themselves with the same number of awards as last year. That’s a far cry from the remarkable 12 they claimed after obliterating the field in 2021.
For Kilkenny – who led the champions by five points early in the second half only to lose by nine – there is some belated consolation with five of Derek Lyng’s team making the cut.
Reid is joined by goalkeeper Eoin Murphy, winning his fourth award; full-back duo Mikey Butler and Huw Lawlor, each selected for the second consecutive season; and forward Eoin Cody, this year’s only first-time recipient.
Murphy squeezes out last year’s custodian, Limerick’s Nickie Quaid; the Kilkenny man’s case was doubtless bolstered by his latest and possibly greatest ever save, to deny Clare’s Peter Duggan.
Still, even without Quaid, the Limerick rearguard is well represented by Dan Morrissey, Byrnes and Quaid. Meanwhile, Darragh O’Donovan and Will O’Donoghue fill the two midfield berths even though the latter finished the summer as a reinvented centre-back, deputising for stricken skipper Declan Hannon.
The Limerick septet is completed by Tom Morrissey, winning his third award, and Aaron Gillane, his fourth.
Gillane, Byrnes and Hayes were already shoo-ins for selection, given their inclusion on the three-man shortlist for GAA/GPA PwC Hurler of the Year. The result, voted on by their playing peers, will be announced at tomorrow night’s All-Stars banquet in the RDS along with the other player of the year awards and the All-Stars football team.
This year’s hurling team certainly won’t qualify as the most controversial in the history of a scheme that has been running for over half-a-century … but Clare fans may well argue that their heroic efforts, in Munster especially, warranted more than just two places.
One of those gongs goes to veteran centre-back John Conlon; the 2018 All-Star full-forward duly enters a distinguished club of players to be honoured in both defence and attack. It promises to be a busy weekend for Conlon, with Clonlara travelling to Thurles on Sunday for a Munster club SHC semi-final against Kiladangan.
The other Clare winner is Shane O’Donnell, whose recovery from a serious concussion in 2021 has now been crowned by back-to-back All-Stars, while elsewhere in attack – not for the first time in 2023 – Conor Whelan continues to carry the fight for Galway.
Hurling All-Stars: E Murphy (Kilkenny), M Butler (Kilkenny), H Lawlor (Kilkenny), D Morrissey (Limerick), D Byrnes (Limerick), J Conlon (Clare), K Hayes (Limerick), D O’Donovan (Limerick), W O’Donoghue (Limerick), S O’Donnell (Clare), TJ Reid (Kilkenny), T Morrissey (Limerick), C Whelan (Galway), A Gillane (Limerick), E Cody (Kilkenny).
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