It’s that time of the year when GAA correspondents and reporters are forced to get off the fence and predict their All-Star teams.
Quite often, there can be a difference between who one believes should be in the team as opposed to who you think is going to be in the line-up.
In this instance, we’ll let the head rule the heart when picking our Football selection as we mull over presiding over the usual domination of the All-Ireland champions or perhaps spreading the awards around a bit.
Mention of the All-Ireland champions and it was the turn of previous perennial nearly men Armagh to reach the promised land of Sam in 2024.
It will be a major surprise – and indeed probably an injustice – if Kieran McGeeney’s squad don’t top this year’s football tallies, but how many should they get? Let’s have a look.
GOALKEEPER
Armagh could well be off the mark early with goalkeeper Blaine Hughes surely the favourite to take the number one jersey after a season where he kept 14 clean sheets in 17 competitive games although the county’s defensive systems undoubtedly contributed to this.
Many expected Ethan Rafferty’s return to fitness would have resulted in Hughes losing his starting role but McGeeney kept faith with the Carrickcruppen man and that decision was totally vindicated.
It emerged after the All-Ireland Final win over Galway that Hughes had got a bang on his right knee after colliding with team-mate Joe McElroy in the warm-up.
As a result, Hughes kicked the ball out with his weaker left foot on a number occasions in the game but remained as assured as ever in finding team-mates in an all-important aspect of the modern game.
The battle for the goalkeeping jersey is an Ulster affair with Tyrone’s Niall Morgan and Donegal’s Shaun Patton also in contention but it will be a surprise if Hughes isn’t the choice.
Goalkeeper: Blaine Hughes (Armagh)
FULL-BACKS
The full-backs to my mind are the most straightforward of the lines to pick this year although some selectors have opted to put player of the year favourite Barry McCambridge in the half-back line.
McCambridge, who wasn’t even a starter for Armagh in the Ulster Final penalty shootout defeat by Donegal in May, shackled key Kerry and Galway forwards David Clifford and Shane Walsh in the All-Ireland semi-final and decider.
In addition to sticking like glue to Clifford, McCambridge also scored the match-turning semi-final goal so his place in the line-up is assured.
It will be a big surprise if he’s not joined by team-mate Aaron McKay, who in addition to an outstanding year at the back burst also upfield to palm in the crucial All-Ireland final goal, and Galway’s outstanding corner-back Johnny McGrath, who is nominated for the young player of the year award.
If the selectors do opt to pick McCambridge in the half-backs, Kerry’s Tom O’Sullivan could be the man to benefit.
Full-backs: Johnny McGrath (Galway), Aaron McKay (Armagh), Barry McCambridge (Armagh)
HALF-BACKS
Galway’s Dylan McHugh is a certainty for one of the half-back roles after being nominated along with team-mate John Maher and McCambridge for the Footballer of the Year award.
And while he was somewhat subdued in Donegal’s hugely disappointing narrow All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Galway, Peadar Mogan’s earlier performances surely banked him enough credit to be named in the half-backs.
His all-energy displays were a feature of Donegal’s late spring and summer prior to the Galway game with his ability to contribute scores also a boon to Jim McGuinness’ side.
Mogan’s Donegal team-mate Ryan McHugh and Galway’s Liam Silke will also be in the selectors’ thoughts but it would seem like an injustice to leave Armagh captain Aidan Forker out of the 15.
Forker’s devastation after the Ulster Final was captured as his toddler son tried to console him but he regrouped in typical fashion to lead the Orchard men to the All-Ireland title.
The Maghery club-man stormed upfield to notch two crucial points in the dramatic semi-final comeback win over Kerry and was again on target in the low-scoring decider.
His outside-of-the-left boot strikes over the bar was one of the features of this year’s football championship.
Half-backs: Dylan McHugh (Galway), Aidan Forker (Armagh), Peadar Mogan (Donegal)
MIDFIELDERS
The first midfield selection is extremely straightforward.
Galway veteran Paul Conroy had a sensational campaign and could in no way reproach himself for the Tribesmen’s heartbreaking All-Ireland final defeat as he notched 0-3 from play and would surely have been named man of the match had they managed to win instead of losing 1-11 to 0-13 following their litany of missed chances.
Conroy’s midfield partner is Armagh’s Ben Crealey whose industry was a feature of the Orchard County’s campaign and who produced the best display of the summer when it mattered most as he hit two vital points, helped set the vital goal and also produced a crucial late turnover on Cillian McDaid in an all-action performance.
Crealey’s Armagh midfield partner Niall Grimley certainly should have been in the selectors’ conversation while the other centrefield nominees were Donegal’s Michael Langan, Dublin’s Brian Fenton and Louth’s Tommy Durnin.
Midfielders: Paul Conroy (Galway), Ben Crealey (Armagh)
HALF-FORWARDS
Player of the year contender John Maher has to be an automatic choice in the half-forward line where he should be joined by young player of the year nominee Oisin Conaty.
The Tir na nOg man was named man of the match after the All-Ireland Final as he hit three points in a high-octane display.
While GAA superstars David Clifford and Con O’Callaghan are among the forward nominees, it’s doubtful they did enough to make the team this year so Rob Finnerty – although he wore Galway’s number 13 shirt during the campaign – gets a nod for the remaining half-forward berth.
Finnerty was forced off by injury in the opening 10 minutes of the All-Ireland Final. If he had been able to stay on the pitch, the final outcome may have been very different given the brilliance he had produced previously in the campaign.
Half-forwards: Rob Finnerty (Galway), John Maher (Galway), Oisin Conaty (Armagh)
FULL-FORWARDS
Rian O’Neill struggled to produce his best in the early part of Armagh’s championship campaign but his man-of-the-match performance against Kerry which included hitting three points and making a vital soaring catch on his own goal-line in the final play was followed by another impressive final display.
O’Neill is joined in the attack by team-mate Conor Turbitt, who struggled like the majority of the full-forwards in the All-Ireland decider as he was held scoreless, but whose previous scoring tally of 3-22, which included 0-5 against Kerry, warrants his inclusion.
In not a vintage year for full-forwards, Donegal’s Oisin Gallen completes the 15 despite the uncharacteristic two crucial missed frees in the All-Ireland semi-final after a hitherto outstanding campaign which yielded 2-33 for Jim McGuinness’ side – including 1-15 from play.
Full-forwards: Oisin Gallen (Donegal), Rian O’Neill (Armagh), Conor Turbitt (Armagh)
OVERVIEW
The standout feature from the above selection is the absence of Kerry and Dublin players.
Dubs Fenton, O’Callaghan and Cormac Costello are among the nominees but it’s difficult to make a convincing case for any of them to be included.
Likewise, the Kingdom have the Clifford brothers plus Tom O’Sullivan and Brian O Beaglaioch nominated but while O’Sullivan could possibly sneak in at corner-back, there will be raised eyebrows if any of the other three Kerrymen make the selection.
The final tally of eight Armagh, five Galway and two Donegal perhaps looks a little unbalanced when you consider the overall national picture with not a yawning gap between the three teams and the likes of Kerry, Dublin and Mayo.
And some may say with no team clearly ahead of the rest this season, it was a year when the likes of Louth duo Sam Mulroy and Craig Lennon or perhaps even Tyrone’s Darragh Canavan could have made the All-Star line-up.
But this most subjective of exercises is fundamentally about looking at battles for individual jerseys rather than a calculation over whether a team only narrowly ahead of the rest deserves eight All-Stars.
My Football All-Stars selection
Blaine Hughes (Armagh); Johnny McGrath (Galway), Aaron McKay (Armagh), Barry McCambridge (Armagh); Dylan McHugh (Galway), Aidan Forker (Armagh), Peadar Mogan (Donegal); Paul Conroy (Galway), Ben Crealey (Armagh); Rob Finnerty (Galway), John Maher (Galway), Oisin Conaty (Armagh); Oisin Gallen (Donegal), Rian O’Neill (Armagh), Conor Turbitt (Armagh)
