Team and individual performances are recognised the length and breath of the country at this time of year. If you happen to be the All-Ireland champions, then as either a player or coach the months from September to December will see you clock up more miles than you did previously in the year. Everyone wants a piece of the action, whether it is schools, clubs, societies, charities or family - the list is endless. Lunches, brunches and dinners seven days a week are a good excuse to put on a few pounds! But for the majority of players nationwide two particular functions stand head and shoulders above all others and those are the Gaelic Players Association Player of the Year Awards and the GAA All Stars. Let's look at the GPA Awards first and the large numbers of current and former players who take over the City West Hotel for this Gala event. What makes this so popular with the players is that the winner of the Hurler and Footballer of the Year are chosen by the players they have played with and against. For Sean Og O'hAilpin, the GPA Hurler of the Year Award for 2004 will rank with him as one of his greatest personal successes. Individual recognition by his peers that he was the best performer in his code throughout the whole season must give him, his family and his club a lot of satisfaction. Reaching the standard to win this award does not happen overnight, but rather days, weeks and months of sheer hard work, dedication, discipline and ambition are required. Sean Og at this stage of his career has to be one of the fittest and best prepared GAA players in the country but just as importantly he is one of the most disciplined players off the field as well. He puts in daily sessions in the gym working on his body strength and stamina, and that's before any training with his club or county. It is not too often you hear that on the morning after the All-Ireland hurling final that a certain player has gone for a seven mile run around the streets of Dublin while his other colleagues are out for the count on the fourth floor of the Burlington Hotel, but that's exactly what Sean Og did. Success breeds success and to round off the season for himself, he played a huge part in bringing the county championship back to his club Na Piarsaigh and more amazingly adopted to International Rules football as if he had never been away from a round or even an oval ball at that. It was then a foregone conclusion that he would automatically gain an All Star award in a awesome half backline. Down on the banks of the Lee 2003 might have been all about Setanta O'hAilpin but nobody can deny the fact that 2004 belonged to Sean Og. And for his endeavours this year he will look forward to 2005 as captain of the Rebel army and there is no better a man to lead the blood and bandage into battle.. Before I finish on the above I must say well done to Dessie Farrell and his team in the GPA for the wonderful effort and effect they are having at present in promoting the rights and welfare of all players in the association. To walk away with a car for your performances in 2004 makes it much easier for you to go to the starting blocks in 2005. Remember without the players commitment and sacrifices, it would be very hard to put 80,000 bums on seats in Croke Park. I read recently that when the new owner of Darlington FC, a Third Division outfit in England, took over the club he was amazed to find out that their top striker was earning £150,000 a year for putting the ball in the back of the net. With this in mind, we realise that GAA players are not asking for a lot and anything that can be done to improve and highlight the efforts been made by the GPA has to be welcomed. However, I am not too sure that players will ever get £150,000 a year from the GAA though. There was yet another fantastic night in the City West Hotel for the All Star Awards in November. As ever questions will be raised about the selection with commentators questioning those picked or the format of the selection. I have my own views on this and I feel that the selection should be based on the premise that players are picked in the position where they played most of the season. With this in mind we can look at the centre back position for 2004. Ken McGrath, Ronan Curran and Peter Barry all gave great performances through out the year in the no. 6 jersey I feel that the selection committee should pick the best man from these three for that single position and not to try and allocate them to a different position where they played no games this year at the exclusion of somebody else. It may be harsh but at least when two of the nominees lose out, then they know they are losing out to the best man in that position. Let's have a look at the final selection. Goalkeeper - Damian Fitzhenry. There is no doubt in my mind he was the best by far this year followed by Brendan Cummins of Tipperary. He made so many fantastic saves; it is hard to pick one over another. Right corner back - Wayne Sherlock. A real Mr. Consistency and it is hard to believe this was only his first award. His performance in the All-Ireland against very strong Kilkenny attack was outstanding. Full Back - Diarmuid O'Sullivan. 'The Rock' as he is known grew in strength as the year progressed and beat off some superb candidates for this award. He does all the simple things well. Left corner back - Tommy Walsh. I did not see Tommy play too much hurling in this position but that does not make him a bad hurler and earned this award on the basis of his performances at half back. His performance the second day against Clare in Thurles was one of the best in the championship by any player. Right half back - Sean Og O'hAilpin. I do not need to say much more as I have already said enough about the Na Piarsaigh man. Centre back - Ronan Curran. The strength of this guy is his reading of the game and being able to strike and clear off both sides. He had a fantastic Munster campaign. Left half back - JJ Delaney. As I stated in previous articles, the Hurler of the Year was between this man and Sean Og. He could play anywhere for you and probably would if he was asked. He is the most consistent hurler in Ireland for the last three years. Midfield - Ken McGrath. Again, I did not see Ken in this position too often this season and earns his award on the basis of his performances at centre back. There is no doubt he also had a wonderful year throughout the league and championship campaign, even though I still advocate that Waterford need him up front. Midfield - Jerry O'Connor. He really blossomed as a player once moved to midfield, which gave him the time and space to display his talents. There was no better player around the middle of the field this year. He scored some marvellous points from midfield and linked up very well with his forwards. Right half forward- Dan Shanahan. He was known as seven goal Dan this year and it was a fitting moniker based on the vital goals he scored throughout the league and championship. He really used his height and power to great advantage around the square. Centre forward - Niall McCarthy They say you have to lose an All-Ireland to win one and certainly this year Niall was the driving force behind the Cork attack. He was wrongly blamed by some last year for Cork's final defeat, but he more than answered any critics out there with his man of the match performance in the All-Ireland final. Left half forward - Henry Shefflin. Very little remains to be said about the ability of the Kilkenny man, he is one of the most talented and consistent hurlers in the country. His willingness to work ensures that his skill wins out in a battle. Right corner forward - Paul Flynn. No one ever doubted this man's ability but some people, including myself, questioned his consistency. One day he could be brilliant and next day he might not be so good. This year though he carried the leadership tag to great effect all through the championship campaign after shipping a lot of criticism for his league final performance. His Munster final performance when Waterford were reduced to 14 men was truly outstanding. Full forward - Brian Corcoran. Corcoran was the final piece in the jigsaw for Cork this year. He was a big strong physical presence around the square, making life very difficult for full backs and also easing the pressure on Joe Deane. Left corner forward - Eoin Kelly. When your team are not performing well and you are, it says something about the quality of you as an individual. This guy would walk onto any team countrywide. If only Tipperary had more like him. Tweet

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