2020 HURLING ALL-STARS
Limerick dominate after year like no other
IN a year that belonged to Limerick, who won all 13 games across all competitions – Munster League, National League and Munster and All-Ireland Championships – it’s no surprise that John Kiely’s team dominate the 2020 PwC All-Stars Hurling Team of the Year, with nine players honoured.
Waterford are next best represented with three players while Galway, Kilkenny and Clare each have a single spot on the final 15 selection, which was chosen by a panel of Gaelic games correspondents, chaired by GAA president John Horan and announced live on RTÉ television last night.
1 NICKIE QUAID (Limerick)
Club: Effin Award: 1st
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Joins an elite band of fatherson partnerships who have been honoured as All-Stars, 28 years after Tommy Quaid was also named in goals for Limerick. Ultra-consistent in his puck-outs in giving Limerick a platform, it took until the All-Ireland final for him to show the full range of his shot-stopping skills as well.
2 SEÁN FINN (Limerick)
Club: Bruff Award: 3rd (2018, 19, 20)
Epitomises the modern cornerback. Not just a man-marker and stopper, when required he’s a play-from-the-front performer. So confident and assured in possession, his reading of the play and anticipation of the break has seen him develop into the most consistent cornerback in the country this past three seasons.
3 DAN MORRISSEY (Limerick)
Club: Ahane Award: 2nd (2018, 2020)
The stats show he didn’t concede a single score from play to his direct opponent during the Championship. Last winter, he went from being a makeshift replacement for Mike Casey to dominating the square and being the standout number three in the country.
4 DAITHÍ BURKE (Galway)
Club: Turloughmore Award: 5th (2015, 16, 17, 18, 20)
Tied up with Corofin for the early part of the season and then slotting back for the Leinster final after injury, he quickly went about showing his leadership qualities. Physically able to disarm the explosive threat of Kilkenny captain Colin Fennelly, he recovered from a slip to ultimately overpower Tipperary captain Seamus Callanan.
5 DIARMAID BYRNES (Limerick)
Club: Patrickswell Award: 1st
Personified the Limerick quest for selfimprovement in cutting out any old tendency to shoot wildly from distance to act as playmaker from wing-back, without losing any of his scoring threat. A superb deadball striker, he was part of a half-back line that is the launch pad for the champions. Form so good he squeezed out Calum Lyons for the number five slot.
6 TADHG DE BÚRCA (Waterford) Club: Clashmore/Kinsalebeg
Award: 2nd (2015, 2020)
Such a cruel blow to the player and to Waterford to see him gone from the field in the first half of the final due to a cruciate knee ligament injury. Truly inspiring in the second-half comeback against Kilkenny. Makes an extremely testing role look so easy in the way he attacks every ball and covers across the half-back line.
7 KYLE HAYES (Limerick) Club: Kildimo-Pallaskenry Award: 1st
On his way to becoming the first wing-back in the game who carries a consistent goal threat, such is his capacity to eat up the ground on the front foot. His fielding and natural athleticism make the 6’5” star a force of nature.
8 JAMIE BARRON
(Waterford) Club: Fourmilewater Award: 3rd (2016, 17, 20)
A whirlwind figure when Waterford whipped up a storm against Kilkenny in one of the county’s most famous victories.
9 TONY KELLY (Clare) Club: Ballyea Award: 2nd (2013, 2020)
That he made the Hurler of the Year shortlist on a Clare team bundled out of Munster in the first round and then the All-Ireland series at the quarter-final stage shows his game was on another level. Kelly (below left) equalled a record of 17 scores in a single Championship dating back to Eddie Keher in 1972 in the opening round against Limerick – a remarkable feat given the champions are the true measure of any opposition.
10 GEARÓID HEGARTY (Limerick) Club: St Patrick’s Award: 1st (2018, 2020)
Seven points from open play in the final didn’t even tell half the story of his full contribution as he put in the hard yards across the middle third. Abrasive and physical in the tackle and in turning over ball, he has such a delicate, sweet touch for another player whose athleticism and eye for a score makes him a nightmare for any defender. Deserved Hurler of the Year.
11 CIAN LYNCH (Limerick)
Club: Patrickswell Award: 2nd (2018, 2020)
Started and starred at midfield in the Munster opener and Munster final but was also pivotal to the team’s evolution in the way he reinvented centre-forward play with Kyle Hayes switching to wingback.
While Tadhg de Búrca’s injury was a big blow to Waterford in the All-Ireland final, Lynch was already playing the role of conductor to the Limerick orchestra at that point, playing off the centre-back in a roving role almost as a third midfielder, and nearly got in for a goal himself before seeing his brilliant batted shot saved by O’Keeffe.
12 TOM MORRISSEY (Limerick) Club: Ahane Award: 1st
The ‘assist king’ as Eddie Brennan tagged him – a serious complement for a player who hit a remarkable five points from play in the semifinal and final. A proud day for Ahane, with both Morrissey brothers honoured.
13 AARON GILLANE (Limerick) Club: Patrickswell Award: 2nd
Offers Limerick a bullish ball-winning presence that allows the team an out ball when the half-forward line drops deep. The tip of the Limerick spear. His improvised kicked goal against Tipperary showed his cuteness in front of goal, while his stunning point from the Cusack Stand sideline early in the final was a snapshot of his contribution. Four from play that day and six frees ensured he kept up a 10-point average over five games with a combined total of 2-44 (50 points).
14 TJ REID (Kilkenny)
Club: Ballyhale Shamrocks Award: 5th (2012, 14, 15, 19, 20)
A year in which he confirmed his status as one of the greats of the modern game, his all-round display in the first half of the Leinster semi-final against Dublin prompted Michael Duignan to declare him the best player he has seen. Did so much of his best work at centreforward but with Cian Lynch at 11, he also makes sense here given the damage he caused when rotated in to the edge of the square. The finale of the Leinster final was a perfect example, getting Kilkenny up the steps with his own lethal finish after Richie Hogan’s virtuoso goal.
15 STEPHEN BENNETT (Waterford)
Club: Ballysaggart Award: 1st
Takes the honour of being named as the 1,500th All-Star since the inception of the scheme in 1971. If there was a passage of play that captured Waterford’s Championship renaissance and a county rediscovering the confidence and swagger of old, it was in Bennett’s mesmerising solo run half the length of the field and point against Kilkenny. Even when Limerick were dominating parts of the Munster final, he carried the fight brilliantly. He finished as the Championship’s top scorer, his 1-54 including that improvised drop shot and goal against Kilkenny.