And the GAA's most attractive player is...
August 20, 2015
Dublin's Shane Durkin. INPHO
Take a bow, Shane Durkin. You've just been voted the most attractive GAA inter-county star by a bunch of American women!
In its latest attempt to drum up a bit of publicity, bookmaker Paddy Power has carried out a survey in which it asked 1,000 American females to pick the 100 hottest GAA stars. And Dublin hurler Durkin came in at number one.
Westmeath U21 and senior footballer Paddy Holloway was runner-up, followed by Cork's Eoin Cadogan. Fergal Moore (Galway), Kieran Joyce (Kilkenny), Aidan Forker (Armagh) and Paddy McBrearty (Donegal) also made the top 10. Surprisingly, Dublin pin-up Bernard Brogan could only manage 42nd spot, while Mayo's Aidan O'Shea was 167th.
The Galway footballers were voted the best looking team, followed by the Dublin hurlers. The ugliest... the Tyrone footballers (why are people always picking on them?!)
The bookmaker said it invited the random American women to take part in the survey because they had "no vested interest in the GAA and therefore no bias related to fame or actual talent."
Reacting to being named the GAA's hottest looker, Shane Durkin said: "When I was first contacted by Paddy Power I initially thought it was the lads' playing a prank on me. However when I was assured it wasn't, I was quietly delighted and chuffed. The great thing about winning this award is that I've been able to donate the prize money to something close to my heart, the Cian Durkin Foundation. We set this foundation up as a family some years ago after I lost my nephew Cian to cancer."
He added: "I'm sure the Dublin lads will give me plenty of stick once they find out. However it'll be nothing that I've not heard before. They already give me plenty about taking too long to get ready after games and training. There'll be a few of them upset it wasn't them who won.
"Especially the younger guys who have plenty of notions about themselves, no more than Mr Danny Sutcliffe! So by winning this award it'll put lots of them back in their boxes!"
Top 5 Teams
1. Galway Football
2. Dublin Hurling
3. Sligo Football
4. Donegal Football
5. Galway Hurling
Bottom 5 Teams
39. Meath Football
40. Fermanagh Football
41. Leitrim Football
42. Laois Hurling
43. Tyrone Football
Clash of the codes
4.61 Footballers average score
4.58 Hurlers average score
Provinces (Ave. Score)
4.71 Connacht
4.63 Ulster
4.59 Munster
4.56 Leinster
Top 25 Players
1. Shane Durkin - Dublin Hurling
2. Paddy Holloway - Westmeath Football
3. Eoin Cadogan - Cork Football
4. Fergal Moore - Galway Hurling
5. Kieran Joyce - Kilkenny Hurling
6. Aidan Forker - Armagh Football
7. Paddy McBrearty - Donegal Football
8. Anthony Maher - Kerry Football
9. Stephen Cronin - Cork Football
10. Danny Cummins - Galway Football
11. Fiontán Ó'Curraoin - Galway Football
12. Patrick O'Connor - Clare Hurling
13. Paddy McGrath - Donegal Football
14. Anton Sullivan - Offaly Football
15. Ken O'Halloran - Cork Football
16. Gary O'Donnell - Galway Football
17. Dean Ryan - Clare Football
18. Jamie Malone - Clare Football
19. Patrick Cronin - Cork Hurling
20. Patrick McBride - Antrim Football
21. Kevin McDonnell - Sligo Football
22. Connor Burke - Antrim Football
23. Coalan O'Boyle - Derry Football
24. Diarmuid Masterson - Longford Football
25. Shane Hickey - Clare Football
Best looking football XV
1. Ken O'Halloran - Cork
2. Paddy McGrath - Donegal
3. Eoin Cadogan - Cork
4. Paddy Holloway - Westmeath
5. Stephen Cronin - Cork
6. Gary O'Donnell - Galway
7. Dean Ryan - Clare
8. Anthony Maher - Kerry
9. Fiontán Ó'Curraoin - Galway
10. Aidan Forker - Armagh
11. Anton Sullivan - Offaly
12. Jamie Malone - Clare
13. Patrick McBride - Antrim
14. Paddy McBrearty - Donegal
15. Danny Cummins - Galway
Best looking hurling XV
1. Stephen O'Keeffe - Waterford
2. Aaron Craig - Westmeath
3. Fergal Moore - Galway
4. Kieran Joyce - Kilkenny
5. Shane Durkin - Dublin
6. Joseph Cooney - Galway
7. Kieran Bergin - Tipperary
8. Aidan Walsh - Cork
9. Patrick O'Connor - Clare
10. David Burke - Galway
11. Darragh O'Connell - Dublin
12. Patrick Cronin - Cork
13. Dan Currams - Offaly
14. Charles Dwyer - Laois
15. David Treacy - Dublin
