Hurling is the best game on earth.
What a year we’ve had. Hurling has never been in a healthier place than it is now, with the wondrous skill and jaw-dropping ability of our players only increasing with each passing year.
Excitement levels are never a question with thirty men chasing a tiny ball around a field as if their life is depending on it.
2017 was a typically great hurling year, and it was one that the neutrals craved, with perennial finalists Kilkenny and Tipperary absent.
In fact, Waterford and Galway’s clash on Sunday was the first time the Liam MacCarthy decider had not been contested by the traditional powerhouses Tipperary, Cork or Kilkenny since 1997.
It’s only getting more competitive.
Here’s the cream of our crop.
1 – Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford) – Didn’t concede a goal in the All-Ireland semi-final or final.
The Ballygunner club man has redefined the goalkeeping position. He is the best shot-stopper in the game. If you want hit the net behind this man, you’re going to need to find the most unlikely spot in it’s entire perimeter.
He Spreads himself like a bed sheet in the assembly process, and you’d think he has as many limbs as an octopus, and by God he guards that goals like his life depends on it.
Is well able to venture out the field to help a struggling defender, and perhaps fancies his outfield skills.
Colm Callanan wasn’t far off, but this man is in a league of his own.
2 – Noel Connors (Waterford) – He had the hardest job in Croke Park on Sunday, as the Young hurler of the Year in waiting Conor Whelan came over to mark him.
Connors couldn’t possibly have done a better job. He was tight, sticky, resolute and everything a corner back should be.
He went down injured in the second half, and was visibly f*cked, but he bounced back, like we knew he would.
He didn’t give Conor Whelan an inch.
3 – Daithí Burke (Galway) – Has filled Galway’s troubling full back position amazingly well. Because of that, he is arguably the Tribesmen’s most valuable player.
The Turloughmore man leaps like a salmon to fetch high balls, as he makes himself the biggest nuisance an opposition full forward could possibly encounter.
He fights like an angry dog to win loose, breaking balls, and regularly emerges from rucks with his pumping legs and charismatic fire.
4 – Damien Cahalane (Cork) – It’s easy to forget just how good this man was all year, but it shouldn’t be. The Rebel number four will be best remembered for his lung-bursting run out of defence to just say NO to any Clare attackers dreaming of an equaliser in the Munster final.
We should also remember the nullifying marking jobs he did on so many corner and full forwards this year. He kept Shane O’Donnell scoreless, he marked Seamus Callanan out of it.
Most tellingly, when he was sent off against Waterford, for a rash, uncharacteristic challenge, his team missed him, they crumbled.
Has shipped some criticism in the past. Definitely deserves this.
Moment of The Game an incredible solo run @DamienCahalane @OfficialCorkGAA in. the second half @MunsterGAA#Inspirational pic.twitter.com/8QWkc9556D
— Joe Seward (@JoeSeward1) July 9, 2017
5 – Pádraic Maher (Tipperary) – The most consistent hurler in the country. The Thurles Garda is built like a brick wall, has the best aerial ability in the country, and has a reliable first touch and a propensity to score a crucial point.
It may not have been Tipperary’s year, but that was nothing to do with this man.
6 – Gearóid McInerney (Galway) – An absolute animal. Drives onto a ball with the pace, conviction and power of a wounded lion, but then delivers that ball with the care and respect it deserves.
He knows his limitations, and cleverly lets his skillful teammates do the flashy stuff.
7 – Diarmuid O’Keeffe (Wexford) – It was a great summer for Wexford, it was a great summer for their teak tough, tight, but rampaging half back.
He scored in every Championship game the Yellow Bellies played, and kept his markers quiet too. He was memorably heroic against Kilkenny and will be key to Davy Fitzgerald’s future plans with the men of the sunny south east.
8 – Jamie Barron (Waterford) – Hurler of the Year in waiting. Barron represents everything that is good about Derek McGrath’s Waterford and about hurling in general.
Runs himself into the ground for the cause. He is quick, clever, courageous and one of the most skillful hurlers in the business.
He gave another tireless performance on Sunday, but we’ve come to expect that from him now.
9 – David Burke (Galway) – A leader of men. Man-of-the-match on the biggest stage of all and stood tallest when the stakes were at their highest. The man has balls of steel and the lethal skill to match.
One of the ball-strikers in the game.
His hair-raising winning speech told it all.
10 – Austin Gleeson (Waterford) – He may not have had his best day at the office on Sunday, but it can not be understated how much this man has done for promotion of the game in Ireland and worldwide.
He is the most gifted hurler this country has ever produced, and some of the pieces of skill he has provided us with throughout this year warrent his inclusion alone.
He will be back.
THIS goal helped 'Na Déise' to reach Sunday's #GALvWAT All-Ireland Hurling Final! Look back at Austin Gleeson's superb run/goal vs Cork! pic.twitter.com/VKifYPPUYO
— The GAA (@officialgaa) August 29, 2017
11 – Joe Canning (Galway) – Enough said.
12 – Kevin Moran (Waterford) – If there was any man that ran Joe Canning close on the ‘deserves an All-Ireland’ list,’ this, this is your man.
Kevin Moran is the captain, the spiritual leader of this Déise outfit who are bound together by their spirit, unity and camaraderie for one another.
On top of all of that, he is a class act, and he has been scoring points and goals like his early one on Sunday to beat the band all year.
13 – Conor Whelan (Galway) – If this man had performed on Sunday to the level he had been doing for the whole year, he would have undoubtedly collected the Hurler of the Year gong.
Noel Connors kept him quiet by his own standards on Sunday, but without him, Galway wouldn’t have even been there on Sunday.
A warrior.
14 – Conor Cooney (Galway) – The St Thomas’ club man had a phenomenal year. He kicked it off with a dazzling display to destroy Dublin, continued in fine fettle against Wexford, and chipped in invaluably against both Tipperary and Waterford when the stakes were at their highest.
15 – Patrick Horgan (Cork) – One that is often accused of not performing when the stakes are at their highest. That’s a load of bullshit. Patrick Horgan surpassed Christy Ring to become Cork’s all-time leading Championship scorer this year, and he was to the forefront in every one of their battles.
His finest hour came against Waterford, when he scored five scandalous points from play, and he was surely the unluckiest man in Ireland not to have been playing on Sunday.
What a game we have.
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