All Star awards versus the GPA awards Being a Corkman, of course I am going to be biased and my team of the year selection in the last issue was not too far away from the official All Star team selected. All star selections will always be a major topic of discussion no matter who wins the All-Ireland and this year was no exception. My money was on Donal Og Cusack to be top the pile in the goalkeepers' section and was slightly surprised to see the Clare's Davy Fitzgerald get the nod ahead of him. There is certainly no doubting Davy's ability as a goalkeeper but I just felt that this year was the best that I have seen Donal Og perform since he started hurling with Cork. People have questioned his ability as a shot stopper and argued that he was prone to the odd mistake, but his overall performance as a player on the field was top drawer in 2005. He is a great leader off the field but as someone pointed out - you win nothing off the field of play. Players are judged on the merits of their ability and both Davy and Donal Og were both worthy nominees. Davy was the choice of the selection committee and I am sure that by now that the Cloyne man has accepted this decision. All Stars are great individual rewards for ones outstanding contribution during the year and I am beginning to wonder if the impact is being lost as there are so many other awards been distributed through other channels. There was a time when if you got an All Star - it was the crowning glory of the year for most players but recently this has been overshadowed by other events. The GPA has stolen a big march here when it comes to Hurler of the Year. This year the Vodafone Player of the Year was Jerry O'Connor and he received a lovely award at this function but it cannot compare to the prize offered to the GPA's Hurler of the Year, as John Gardiner picked up an Opel Sports Car. Which one would you prefer to win, need I ask? The selection of Peter Canavan in the football awards struck me as a selection more for his contribution to Gaelic football rather than his own performance this year. He is without doubt a fantastic footballer, but perhaps was not deserving of an All Star this year. The real benefit of the GPA awards is that the players pick who they feel is the best and there can be no political persuasion or cloud used - the best man simply wins. To give the All Stars their credit, the All Star trip away is one of the best any player could ever go on and Vodafone deserve a lot of credit here because this does cost a serious amount of money and it is money well spent. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners this year and I am sure their planned visit to Dubai will be a trip of a lifetime - if only I was a few years younger. All-Ireland club championships I had predicted that Newtownshandrum and James Stephens would contest this year's final and after a lot of action over the past few weeks, both remain on course to do so. There have been some fantastic games played and it is a real advert for club hurling. The quality, intensity and standard have been from the top drawer and it just shows the level of preparation and commitment from everybody associated with these teams. There was a time that if you won your county championship you sat back, happy with your return for the year, but that is no longer the case. Everyone wants to take the next step and compete at the highest level which is running out in Croke Park on March 17th next. Teams are as professionally prepared as I have ever seen and obviously that can come at a huge cost to the club and drain its resources, but if you ask any of those involved they will tell you it is worth it . It has to be very hard on players who have been active all season to be playing in wind, rain and difficult underground conditions. People have mentioned possible player burnout but when Newtownshandrum's Ben O'Connor was asked about this recently he replied: "That it is all in the head and if you look after yourself physically you should never be tired of hurling." Great performances this year from Thurles Sarsfields and Ballygunner in Munster with UCD putting up a great show in Leinster leaves me to believe that this competition is really gathering momentum and from a player's perspective, that has to be good for the game going forward. Looking ahead to next year Can the Rebels be stopped in their tracks and how will Babs do in Tipp? Is there one last throw of the dice for Waterford? Can the Banner reproduce the form of the All-Ireland semi-final again or will the Cats be as quiet? They are all questions which will be answered in the New Year and I am certainly looking forward to it already. Tweet

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