The 2023 PwC hurling All-Stars have recognised Limerick’s latest All-Ireland in this year’s scheme. The four-in-a-row champions receive seven awards, the same level of recognition as last year, a reflection of a season that saw the county sweep league, Munster and All-Ireland titles.
Their domination wasn’t as pronounced as 2021 when they set a new mark for All-Stars awards with 12. Their championship season started fitfully before they recovered to win a fifth successive Munster championship, a record for the county, and emulate the long-standing four-in-a-row sequence also achieved by Kilkenny 14 years ago and Cork in the 1940s.
Kilkenny, runners-up in both league and championship, have a healthy representation of five whereas the other All-Ireland semi-finalists, Clare and Galway, receive two and one, respectively.
Unlike last year, Limerick didn’t navigate the championship unbeaten and lost to Clare in the Munster round-robin before avenging that defeat in the provincial final. Their performance levels thereafter rose and two emphatic second-half displays in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway and in the final saw them cruise to a fifth All-Ireland in six years.
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The power base of the team is the halfback line and there were further All Stars for last year’s Hurler of the Year Diarmaid Byrnes and Kyle Hayes, who was recognised 12 months ago in the forwards. Their captain and centre back Declan Hannon, who was in last year’s selection, was unfortunately unable to complete the season because of an injury sustained in the Munster final.
The champions do, however, make it a clean sweep at centrefield, as both Darragh O’Donovan and Will O’Donnoghue, who filled in at centre back after Hannon’s injury, are selected in the middle.
In attack, there are awards for Tom Morrissey and Aaron Gillane. Morrissey’s performances were very strong in the early part of the championship when Limerick were struggling, whereas Gillane made consistently high-quality contributions and is seen as a front-runner for this year’s Hurler of the Year citation.
Morrissey is joined by his brother Dan, who is selected at corner back after another fine year at full back for the champions. It is his third award and he and Tom are named in the same team for the second time, having first achieved the distinction in 2020.
There was hard luck for Barry Nash, who had another excellent year at corner back.
Kilkenny’s TJ Reid wins a seventh award on his birthday and is the most honoured of this year’s team. His performances this season weren’t quite at the level of a year ago when he was shortlisted for HOTY but he led the team’s attack in a year when the Leinster title was dramatically retained and played a major role in the semi-final defeat of Clare.
Turning 36, Reid makes it seven All-Stars in 12 years, and joins county men Noel Skehan and JJ Delaney on that number as well as Cork dual star Jimmy Barry Murphy and Kerry footballer Mikey Sheehy. He is one behind Kerry’s Colm Cooper, two behind DJ Carey, Tommy Walsh and Pat Spillane in a list still headed by his Ballyhale Shamrocks club colleague and current Galway manager Henry Shefflin, who amassed 11 in his career.
He is also the oldest outfield player to be honoured in 40 years. Another fellow county man, Frank Cummins, was marginally older when picking up an award in 1983.
Reid is one of three Kilkenny players to retain their place on the All-Stars team. Corner back and full back pairing Mikey Butler and Huw Lawlor – both of whom are from the same club, O’Loughlin Gaels, turn last year’s first awards into back-to-back All Stars.
Goalkeeper Eoin Murphy wins a fourth All-Star after another exceptional season that included the semi-final save from Peter Duggan, which was described by many as the best they’d ever seen.
At corner forward, another Ballyhale man, Eoin Cody – a former Young Hurler of the Year – wins his first All-Star for an impressive campaign that included a goal in the All-Ireland final.
Kilkenny’s semi-final opponents Clare return two award winners. Shane O’Donnell is another of the seven hurlers to hold his All Star. He was in terrific form, culminating in a great goal scored against Kilkenny that tied up the match.
At centre back John Conlon joins an exclusive club, those who have won awards as both forwards and backs. He was full forward on the 2018 selection before being moved back to defensive duties by manager Brian Lohan. He was Clare’s man of the match in the seismic win over Limerick in the provincial round-robin – the first defeat for the champions in four years.
Finally, Galway’s Conor Whelan wins a second award six years after his first and has been the county’s most consistently performing forward in the interim.
The awards will be presented at a function in Dublin’s RDS on Friday night when this year’s football All-Stars and the Player of the Year awards will also be announced.
2023 PwC Hurling All-Stars
1 Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny and Glenmore) 4th award
2 Mikey Butler (Kilkenny and O’Loughlin Gaels) 2nd award
3 Huw Lawlor (Kilkenny and O’Loughlin Gaels) 2nd award
4 Dan Morrissey (Limerick and Ahane) 3rd award
5 Diarmaid Byrnes (Limerick and Patrickswell) 4th award
6 John Conlon (Clare and Clonlara) 2nd award
7 Kyle Hayes (Limerick and Kildimo Pallaskenry) 4th award
8 Darragh O’Donovan (Limerick and Doon) 2nd award
9 William O’Donoghue (Limerick and Na Piarsaigh) 2nd award
10 Shane O’Donnell (Clare and Éire Óg) 2nd award
11 TJ Reid (Kilkenny and Ballyhale Shamrocks) 7th award
12 Tom Morrissey (Limerick and Ahane) 3rd award
13 Conor Whelan (Galway and Kinvara) 2nd award
14 Aaron Gillane (Limerick and Patrickswell) 4th award
15 Eoin Cody (Kilkenny and Ballyhale Shamrocks) 1st award
