2006 Hurling All Stars:All-Ireland champions Kilkenny lead the way in this year's Vodafone All Stars hurling selection with six awards. There won't be too many eyebrows raised at the this year's team, which was announced at a banquet in Dublin's Citywest Hotel last night.
Also announced were the Players of the Year: Henry Shefflin took the hurling award, while Kieran Donaghy won the football. Young Players of the Year were Kilkenny centrefielder James "Cha" Fitzpatrick in hurling and Mayo corner back and All-Ireland under-21 winning captain Keith Higgins in football.
There are three differences between the 15 selections and those of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), awarded earlier this month. Tipperary full back Paul Curran, Cork forward Ben O'Connor and his colleague Joe Deane all lose out, with All-Ireland champions Kilkenny the beneficiaries in two cases; JJ Delaney at full back and Eddie Brennan at wing forward replace Curran and O'Connor. Clare's Tony Griffin is selected instead of Deane.
This redresses the criticism in some quarters that Kilkenny were under-represented in the GPA selection.
None of the three changes are particularly contentious, with Griffin, the third-highest scorer from play in this year's championship, in particular a strange omission from the players' team.
It means the All-Ireland champions have six award winners, followed by Cork with four, Waterford three, and Tipperary and Clare one each.
Shefflin picks up his sixth award, one ahead of Tipperary's Eoin Kelly, whose record is remarkable given that Tipperary have been in only one All-Ireland during his career.
Shefflin joins Limerick's Joe McKenna and Tipperary's Nicky English in joint third place on the all-time list of winners. He and Kelly are closing in on DJ Carey's hurling record of eight awards, and given they are in their 20s, have time in their side.
It is an experienced selection and only four players are receiving a debut award: Waterford's Eoin Murphy, Cork's Brian Murphy - both at corner back - Fitzpatrick and Griffin.
Otherwise Waterford might be viewed as doing well with three awards for a season when the team lost another All-Ireland semi-final, but there was no contention over any of the three. At wing back Tony Browne wins his second award, eight years after his first, for a superb season that was still running a week ago when he almost got his club, Mount Sion, through to the Munster final.
Only four of last year's selection survive: Jerry O'Connor (Cork), Shefflin, Kelly and Tommy Walsh, who emulates Brian Corcoran's record of being selected in three different lines of the field, gaining selection at wing back, having already been chosen at centrefield in 2003 and wing forward last year.
The Players of the Year come as no surprise and mirror those chosen by the GPA and the Texaco selectors. Kieran Donaghy had a galvanic impact on Kerry's fortunes after his switch to full forward.
That impact is most vividly illustrated by the statistic that the team scored no goals in their four matches in the Munster championship. In the next four matches, once Donaghy had moved to the edge of the square, Kerry hit the net 11 times.
Shefflin also snapped up a full house of individual awards after another magnificent year spearheading the Kilkenny attack. He finished the championship as top scorer with 2-47, an average of over 10 points a match. He is also involved tomorrow in trying to win a first Leinster club medal with Ballyhale Shamrocks in the provincial final against Birr.
Ballyhale can also boast the Young Hurler of the Year in Fitzpatrick, who had a hugely influential year after being moved from the forwards to centrefield. Despite his impact, Fitzpatrick was still an under-21 player and won the All-Ireland at that grade as well.
The Young Footballer of the Year emulates that feat.
Keith Higgins captained Mayo to the football under-21 title and was a regular fixture at corner back as well as lining out for the county hurlers.
