The Daily Star Ireland
Former All-Star Shane McGrath has suggested that the current method for selecting hurling All-Stars be revised to provide fairer recognition to standout players from counties eliminated early in the All-Ireland Championship. His comments follow the recent departures of Waterford and Wexford from the provincial round-robin stages, which effectively ended the All-Star prospects for some of their key performers.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, McGrath highlighted players like Lee Chin from Wexford and Jamie Barron from Waterford, whose individual performances were strong despite their counties failing to progress beyond the group stages in Leinster and Munster, respectively. With current selection practices typically favoring players from semi-finalist and finalist teams, McGrath believes that standout talent from earlier rounds often goes unrecognized.
McGrath proposed the idea of a points-based system that could be applied throughout the championship to assess individual contributions more objectively. This system, he argued, would allow players whose teams exit early to remain in contention for All-Star awards based on merit, rather than progression.
Using Jamie Barron and Mark Fitzgerald as examples, McGrath praised their efforts and consistency throughout Waterford’s campaign. He noted that Fitzgerald, in particular, emerged as a prominent figure this year and has the potential to follow in the footsteps of former Waterford great Ken McGrath. Despite their county’s early exit, both players demonstrated performances worthy of broader recognition.
Lee Chin was also singled out by McGrath for his impact with Wexford. While acknowledging that team accolades are the priority for most players, he emphasized that individual honors like All-Star nominations are valuable acknowledgments of excellence and can boost morale and legacy.
McGrath stressed that All-Star selections should reflect the best hurlers across the country, regardless of how far their teams advance. He reiterated that several athletes consistently deliver at a high level despite not playing into the latter stages of the championship and that the current selection model overlooks this reality.
He called for future consideration of a weighted evaluation process that could measure performance more equitably across all rounds of the championship. According to McGrath, the implementation of such a system would ensure deserving players are not excluded simply because their teams did not reach the knockout stages.
The discussion comes at a time when the GAA community is increasingly examining how awards and accolades can be made more inclusive and representative of players across all counties. As conversations continue around championship structure and fairness in recognition, McGrath’s comments have added weight to the argument for reevaluating how excellence in the sport is measured and rewarded.
