At the conclusion of this year's hurling Championship, we should gift the person who decided to make the Munster Championship a round-robin the keys to Croke Park. Once again this weekend provided enthralling affairs in Munster as Tipperary, Waterford, Cork and Limerick all played out thrillers over the course of two days.
Every year there is criticism of the weight placed on performances in the All Ireland semi-final/final. Too often it seems like one good performance in one of those games is enough to secure an All-Star, a move that is contrary to the point of the award. In order to address this, Balls.ie introduced the rolling All-Stars. Every round we'll consider the best performances and compare them to the existing holder. For example, Liam Rushe had a stormer for Dublin in against Offaly last weekend, but was it good enough to out Clare's John Conlon who was brilliant earlier in the year against Tipperary and Waterford?
Here is the third round of the hurling All-Stars.
1. Anthony Nash
His puck-outs are becoming a serious weapon for Cork, as was expertly highlighted by Jamesie O'Connor on Sky Sports.
2. Warren Kavanagh (out) - Colm Spillane (in)
The Wicklow captain did not start during their loss against Kildare, with Billy Cuddihy coming in due to injury. Elsewhere one of this year's most underappreciated players shone once again on Saturday as Colm Spillane was outstanding for Cork, including a monster score just before half-time.
3. Daithi Burke
Galway are firing on all cylinders and they have a terrier minding the house.
4. Adrian Tuohy
Safe for another week as his county easily dismissed Wexford.
5. Padraic Mannion
Set the tempo early on with a barnstorming run forward which led to Conor Whelan's goal.
6. Gearoid McInerney
Holds onto his spot for another week at least.
7. Chris Crummey
An extraordinarily talented hurler. It quickly became apparent why the 23-year-old was appointed Dublin captain during the league and Crummey landed another 0-04 in the relegation decider against Offaly.
8. Tony Kelly (out) - Darragh Fitzgibbon (in)
Fitzgibbon gets through a trojan amount of work and demonstrated his ability to score as well.
9. Noel McGrath
Waterford allowed McGrath to roam in the early portions of their Munster clash and he punished them with a fine score early on.
10. Aonghus Clarke
A wonder score in at the death gave Westmeath the lead against Antrim that ultimately saw his county land a spot in the Joe McDonagh Cup final.
11. Rory O'Connor (out) - Pairc Mahony (in)
When Waterford needed leaders Pairc Mahony jumped to the fore and hit 1-8.
12. Aaron Gillane (out) – Joe Canning (in)
A silly red card for Gillane that could have cost Limerick but they rallied to secure a draw.
WATCH:
Here's the incident that led to a straight red card for Limerick's Aaron Gillane.
Cork lead by two! #MSHC #GAAClips pic.twitter.com/uiXq338ZJg
— eir Sport (@eirSport) June 2, 2018
Meanwhile, Canning was on fire once again for Galway, finishing with 0-12.
Joe Canning with this 10th point of the day pic.twitter.com/mcKRz1ZWo6
— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 2, 2018
13. Shane Kingston (out) - Seamus Flanagan (in)
Kingston faded from the game in the second half while Flanagan backed up his early form with another strong showing, landing 0-6.
14. John Conlon
A huge game for Clare this week as they travel to face Tipperary on Sunday.
15. John McGrath (out) - Graeme Mulcahy (in)
With his team down to 14 men, Mulcahy's work-rate and tackling were crucial to Limerick getting a result at Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
