"I think Enda's got a great shout at this."
Pat Critchley's record might be in a bit of trouble.
It was 34 years ago that the Portlaoise dual star did something that no Laois man had achieved before or since. After their Leinster Championship run of 1985 when Laois lost the final to Offaly, the brilliant Critchley took his place alongside the legendary John Fenton in the All-Star midfield.
Since then, Laois hurling has had more downs than ups. In 2019, Eddie Brennan took over a beleaguered team and guided them to a Joe McDonagh Cup, and to Croke Park after an astonishing win over Dublin the the All-Ireland Preliminary quarter-final. One of the constant stars of that success was goalkeeper Enda Rowland.
Five time All-Star and Tipperary legend Brendan Cummins reckons Rowland might be the man to finally to end Critchley honour as Laois' only ever hurling All-Star when the awards are given out on November 1st.
Speaking as part of the PwC All-Stars Debate alongside Brendan Bugler and Richie Power, Cummins suggested that Rowland's form throughout the season between the posts outshone his rivals in the nominations Eoin Murphy of Kilkenny and Brian Hogan of Tipperary.
Eoin Murphy's the name that rolls off your lips all the time when you talk about the great goalkeepers of the last two or three years, but looking at it, I saw Enda Rowland play in the flesh four times this year. I saw Eoin Murphy play five times. And when I sat back a couple of weeks after the All-Ireland, and I took the emotion out of it, and all the perceptions I have of how good Eoin Murphy is, I said to myself, 'well maybe Enda Rowland had slightly a better year.'
I've seen him stop penalties, he's scores points for Loais, so blow for blow, he's the same as Eoin Murphy there. And I think if he's on most other intercounty panels, he plays. And he would have been well capable of playing in that All-Ireland final for Kilkenny.
Cummins would know more than most what makes a top goalkeeper. For him, Rowland had the complete package this year. His performance as a shot stopper was matched his distribution, arguably a bigger part of modern goalkeeper.
Laois would not have won the Joe McDonagh, they would not have beaten Antrim. I saw them play Antrim in Portlaoise. He saved a penalty, they won the match by six or seven points, but in the first 20 minutes of that game, Antrim had four scoring chances, he saved three of them. The other one was blazed wide. Now if any of them went in, Antrim had their tails up because they'd beaten Kerry in the first round and they were carrying momentum.
His centre-forward Mark Kavanagh had a fantastic year. A lot of those are based on assists from Enda Rowland and the way they play the game. Eddie Brennan had a very specific gameplan. You can't have a gameplan unless your goalie can ping the ball to two foot square of where the ball needs to go, and he does that more often than not. So all those things combined together do make him the complete package.
Rowland is joined by teammate Jack Kelly on the 45 man nominations list, a fitting tribute to a brilliant season. For Cummins though, that's not enough, and merely seeing a Laois name on the list as a box ticking exercise doesn't do justice to Rowland's performances this year.
"Before it would have been a nod, and you started your question with, 'it's nice to see', but he absolutely deserves to be in there and for me, I'd be very close to saying that Enda Rowland could be the All-Star goalkeeper this year. And not just because it's a nice thing for a Laois guy to get an All-Star, but because he has taken his game to such a high level."
We'll find in a couple of weeks if the All-Star panel agree with Cummins. The PwC All-Stars will take place in Dublin's Convention Centre on Friday, November 1st.
Cummins, Bugler and Power debated their team over the course of an hour and eventually came to somewhat of a consensus.
The PwC All-Stars Debate Hurling Team of the Year:
1. Enda Rowland (Laois)
2. Cathal Barrett (Tipperary)
3. Ronan Maher (Tipperary)
4. Seán Finn (Limerick)
5. Brendan Maher (Tipperary)
6. Pádraig Walsh (Kilkenny)
7. Padraic Maher (Tipperary)
8. Noel McGrath (Tipperary)
9. Diarmuid O'Keeffe (Wexford)
10. Lee Chin (Wexford)
11. TJ Reid (Kilkenny)
12. Colin Fennelly (Kilkenny)
13. Aaron Gillane (Limerick)
14. Seamus Callanan (Tipperary)
15. Patrick Horgan (Cork)
If you agree or disagree with the lads, download the PwC All-Stars App now and pick your team of the year. When you do, send it to us via social media or email [email protected] and you could be in with a chance of winning two tickets to the All-Stars banquet. There are loads of other prizes to be won as well.
