We could watch these lads all day long.
We’ve been counting down the most beautiful hurlers to watch from down over the last 20 years and we must say it’s been a struggle trying to fit everyone in.
Hurling is the most beautiful game on earth, and whittling it down to two dozen of it’s most aesthetically pleasing performers has inevitably lead to some notable, inexplicable and truly disgraceful absentees.
For the love of God not even TJ Reid made it onto the list, John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer can feel aggrieved, as can Paul Flynn and Jesus, Eoin Kelly was hard done by, but the tough calls had to be made, and we can guarantee you this list was drafted and re-drafted over and over again.
As the saying goes beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and here’s the 10 hurlers that we’ve enjoyed watching the most over the last 20 years, it doesn’t mean that they are the best.
It does mean that they had our mouths filled with saliva every time they picked up a hurl, every time they caressed that O’Neills size 5, in everything they did.
Yesterday, we gave you our list from 20-11, here’s the cream of the crop, the creme de la creme. 10-1.
10. Tony Kelly (Clare)
2013 was the year. Tony Kelly was in full flight. From June to September the Ballyea man would have lit up a pitch black room such was the glowing beauty every action of his radiated.
He could do it all. His first touch was never even a question, his eloquence in possession was like something we’d never seen before.
Sprightly in his running, you almost felt that his heels weren’t allowed to hit the ground because the springy balls of his feet propelled him through every defensive tackle, and to top it all off, it all appeared like shooting fish in a barrel to him.
Striking off the run was completed without breaking stride.
Truly amazing, just like he was for his club in their march to last year’s All-Ireland club final.
He will be back.
Defining moment:
Winning the Young Hurler and Hurler of the Year awards in 2013 tell a story in themselves, but to appreciate the true artistry of Tony Kelly, we can only leave it to the man himself, because what he does makes words pointless.
Below are two clips, one from his Clare under-21 days, one from his U.L days.
#BGEU21SOTY #BGEU21Score10
Antrim vs. Clare (All-Ireland Final):
Score of the Game by Tony Kellyhttp://t.co/NuEk0Memxy— Munster GAA / Comhairle na Mumhan (@MunsterGAA) October 10, 2013
Now you understand.
9. Ben O’Connor (Cork)
The best thing about Ben O’Connor was that he did everything at 200 miles an hour.
Nobody represents the game-changing Cork team of the early 2000’s quite like the Newtownshandrum pocket rocket.
The Rebels brought in their own style, and redefined everything we thought we knew about the game with their short, snappy, wristy style of play, and O’Connor had it down to a tee.
Must have had eyes on the back of his head, such was his ability to pick out the perfect pass.
Boy could he take a score, too.
Defining moment:
Captaining Cork to the 2004 All-Ireland title. Leading, influencing.
8. Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny)
The best thing about Henry Shefflin was that despite lacking blinding pace, he more than made up for it with guile and skill.
Definitely possessed one of the most beautifully natural strikes a sliotar has ever been a victim of. Shefflin whipped on that ball like nobody else could, but he also had that elegance in attacking and controlling a ball.
May feel hard-done-by to enter the list this early, but we feel those from here on in deserve their places.
Defining moment:
How can you pin probably the greatest career the game has ever had down to one moment?
This is how.
The 2012 All-Ireland final.
In the second half, particularly, he was simply untouchable.
A mammoth, a powerhouse at his brilliant best.
With Kilkenny struggling, Shefflin almost single-handedly kept Galway’s hands off Liam MacCarthy and ensured a replay which they went on to win.
7. John Troy (Offaly)
Hands so soft that he could wriggle the ball around his hurley as if he was only attempting a balancing act.
Yet when he stuck up that famous left hand, he could immediately make it strong enough to catch a ball under pressure.
The Lionel Messi of his era, the Lusmagh club man had the bottle and audacity to try even the cheekiest, and most perilous of flicks, tricks and passes.
Defining moment:
That Famous flick and goal under pressure against Antrim is arguably one of the greatest goals ever scored by a hurler.
So polished, so daring, so damn fine.
6. Richie Power (Kilkenny)
How regrettable is it that were it not for a pair of dodgy knees, this exquisite artist would be thrilling the eyes of the unfortunate souls who never got to see him in his pomp?
Because a fit Richie Power with a hurl in his hand and those dazzling feet at the ready would make a blind man see.
His running style was so direct, so effortless, with his posture almost 90 degrees to the ground, and his ball manipulation was a true sight to behold.
Almost made it seem as if the ball was a secondary thought, because he didn’t even have to think about accommodating it.
Defining moment:
2014 All-Ireland final draw and replay. The Carrickshock chief kept the Cats in the game with 2-1 in one of the best hurling games ever played, and then in the replay netted the decisive goal for Brian Cody’s side.
This goal from 2:15 is unspeakable stuff, it is Richie Power stuff.
5. Noel McGrath (Tipperary)
Could swing a hurley in a phone-box. Treats the ball with the respect it deserves, whether he’s picking out the perfect pass, swinging a long-ranger over the bar with a mere flick of the wrists, providing a ranging hand-pass, or cutting a sideline.
Doesn’t control the ball, instead he flicks it so it will give him even more forward momentum than running alone could. Always spinning and twirling, must be a nightmare to mark, but he’s quite the opposite to watch.
Defining moment:
That no-look hand pass to set up Lar Corbett for his second goal of the 2010 All-Ireland final, that spurred Tipperary home and drove the Cats drive-for-five to demolition.
It had everything. Noel McGrath has everything.
4. Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny)
Not only was the Tullaroan virtuoso a manager’s dream, but also a spectator’s. Attacked the ball with almost reckless exuberance. Every time Walsh picked up hurl, the shackles were off, and we just loved watching the smaller man stick it to men that could have been twice or three times his size.
His best attribute was probably his ability to pluck a ball from the sky despite being surrounded by bigger men.
Could play in any position, the ball of fire would never take no for an answer.
Nobody could match his enthusiasm for the game, for the ball and the commentary role he has now taken on reflects that.
Defining moment:
How do you pin a whopping nine All-Stars, nine All-Ireland medals and one Hurler of the Year down to one moment?
Fairly impossible, but his 2009 on the whole was one of the greatest years of hurling ever delivered by an individual.
3. Austin Gleeson (Waterford)
If you’re going on moments of individual genius, it’s hard to think of any hurler past or present that has matched the Mount Sion man.
Can do things with the ball that wouldn’t even enter the wildest dreams of others. Can bring a crowd do their knees with his wizard-like skill-set, because a fully fledged Austin Gleeson is magic.
The thing about Gleeson is that he is a free-spirit, he will do whatever pops into his head, there are no inhibitions, no limitations and it can lead to some of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see.
Defining moment:
Young and Hurler of the Year awards in 2016, but we really do hope that the best is yet to come. Some moments of unique brilliance from this year’s Championship were ridiculously good.
Just like this.
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
And this.
Stunning skill from Austin Gleeson for a sensational point. Join us live on @Rteone or highlights later on @TheSundayGame at 9.3pm on @rte2 pic.twitter.com/EFHxNfliE5
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 18, 2017
2. Joe Canning (Galway)
Canning was earmarked to become a star of the game since he was sixteen years old when he started making tracks with Portumna’s All-Ireland winning club side.
He was turning heads, then, with his innate skills, and he’s still turning them now.
He has an unmatchable ability to deliver a killer pass or a long range score.
The things he does with that ball are borderline vandalism.
Is able to do things that others wouldn’t even dream of, and it’s this mercurial unpredictability that we all love to witness.
Defining moment:
This September’s All-Ireland triumph spared him from becoming the best player to never win an All-Ireland.
Pulled the fat from the fire so often during Galway’s campaign.
That no look hand pass to David Burke against Cork six years ago defined almost a generation of hurlers.
1. DJ Carey (Kilkenny)
What sets the Dodger apart from everybody else on this list?
If you wished to watch DJ Carey in his prime, you will be on the edge of that seat of yours for 70 minutes and more.
He kicked the ball, he batted it, he did everything he wanted with it.
The best hand-passer the game has ever seen, pace to burn, a deadly touch, flamboyance, unpredictability, dummies, dodges, everything.
DJ could do it all, like the majority of players on this list, but he could do it all better than anybody else.
Defining moment:
When he won so many All-Irelands and individual awards, the best way to sum up his genius is probably then through a particular moment.
That point he scored against Clare when he sent two defenders flying on his way across to the sideline, before nailing it off the hurl has to be up there with the best scores ever taken.
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