John Horgan on the history of the hurling All-Stars and who from Cork deserves to make 2026 line-up

There used to be a time when the announcement of the All-Stars generated great debate.

There would have been, for the most part, general approval for the chosen choices but conversely, there would have been dissenting voices too why some players didn't get the nod. Interest was considerable in the lead-up to the big announcement, who was in, who was not.

However, the thinking now has to be that supporters take things more lightly, the All-Stars are sort of a one- or two-day wonder, the conversation surrounding the selections wane quickly enough. Maybe that's because there's less controversy than there was in past times, a near-certainty in many people's thinking being omitted.

There would have been fury over such an occurence, particularly in that player's own county, a county that a month or two earlier had collected the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

We are not trying to diminish the worth of winning an All-Star award and for those that do it's still a huge honour, all the more so if a player outside of the leading counties is rewarded.

Unfortunately, that's a rarity and the bulk of the awards are taken back to the county that prevails on All-Ireland hurling final Sunday.

Harsh

However, travel back to 2010 when Cork took the Sam Maguire Cup back to Leeside after defeating Down in the final, only four players from the county were selected, three of them defenders, Michael Shields, Paudie Kissane and captain Graham Canty, along with Aidan Walsh.

Three of the aforementioned were defenders and the other a midfielder.

That, of course, meant that no Cork forward from that All-Ireland winning team was selected. That All-Stars line-up did not go down well in the football homes of the county.

We all remember the omission of Brian Whelehan from the 1994 hurling team, the Birr stalwart, one of the best players ever to grace the game, was selected shortly afterwards as the Hurler of the Year. Try to make sense of that.

Yes, Cork got trounced by Limerick in the 2021 All-Ireland final, losing by 16 points and that, of course, seriously diminished their chances of a heavy All-Star reward. By reaching the final that year, no easy accomplishment, we thought they surely would receive two, maybe three, All-Stars.

But look what transpired, they departed the glittering awards ceremony with an empty plate, not even one selection.

It was an accepted fact that Limerick would end up with a huge bulk of accolades that year, no argument whatsoever about that and they did so with 13 of their starting All-Ireland-winning team being recognised, the first time ever that an All Stars hurling team went into double figures.

So, down the years, there have been plenty of talking points to get us through the winter months but not so in more recent times.

Last week the 2026 hurling nominations were released, all 45 of them with Limerick again miles out in front with 13 players in contention. Galway are next on the list with 11, followed by Cork on seven with, the most successful of all counties, Kilkenny receiving just one nomination, very changed times indeed.

The seven from Cork are Niall O'Leary, Sean O'Donoghue, Rob Downey, Mark Coleman, Will Buckley, Shane Barrett and Brian Hayes, quite an impressive return for a county well beaten by 11 points in their semi-final encounter with Galway.

Despite that big loss, at least there was a recognition of being in the last four, in stark contrast to the 2021 story. Limerick are going to again dominate the selection, unlikely that all the 13 nominated will be rewarded but they will surely be in double-figure territory again.

So, who from Cork will get the nod?

Banker

Brian Hayes, one of the three contenders for Hurler of the Year, will be a definite. Young Hurler of the Year nominee William Buckley will be in contention despite being dropped by the Cork management for the All-Ireland semi-final, a decision still difficult to comprehend.

The other five Cork players, Sean O'Donoghue and Niall O'Leary, in particular, all had some fine returns over the course of the league and championship campaign but it's going to be very difficult to unseat the Limerick defenders chosen on the nomination list.

Hayes had a strong innings all through and was very much the leading contender for the Hurler of the year until that loss to Galway when he stood tall with a haul of seven points.

It's a near certainty that Gearoid Hegarty will bag the accolade now without much debate with Diarmaid Byrnes the only other in the frame. Despite being blown away by Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final, might Offaly be recognised for emerging from Leinster as underdogs, Ben Conneely and Eoghan Cahill in contention.

William Buckley will probably lose out to Jason Rabbitte or Cillian Trayers for the Young Hurler prize but going forward he's going to be a huge asset in the Cork attack.

In many people's eyes, Clare were the second-best team in the championship after taking Limerick right to the wire in their All-Ireland semi-final so the Banner county must receive a couple of awards.

Look, with no inter-county activity for a while now and nothing to come for longer, the All-Stars selection does keep the pot boiling on that front and we await with interest.

Greatest

No surprise with the announcement last week that John Kiely is going to be in charge again in Limerick for 2027. Kiely is second only to Brian Cody as the greatest hurling manager of all time, so that news maybe ominous for the rest of top contenders.

Unless there is a major upsurge in the fortunes of the chasing pack, it's difficult to look beyond Limerick again.

Stephen Molumphy looks like being the only managerial change in Munster, all the others staying on board and there will be renewed hope in Waterford that he can be the man to take the county out of the wilderness since the now championship format was introduced eight years ago.

We all took great delight at Mayo's emergence this season and if our own county came up short, Waterford would be the choice to come in from the cold for the first time since 1959.

There will be huge focus on Kilkenny in Leinster next season with Henry Shefflin at the helm and the task that awaits him in trying make the Cats relevant again as far as being leading contenders for the MacCarthy Cup. Given that the county failed at the group stage in Leinster this year and the lack of success at minor and U20 level, few envy him on his journey.

Derek McGrath's arrival in Wexford will generate plenty of focus too as the county bids to end a famine of 30 years since the All-Ireland success of 1996.

For now, though, for all inter-county managers, the priority is to get viable personnel on board to challenge for inclusion on their panels.