In a landslide win, Seamus Callanan was crowned the inaugural winner of the Liathróid Óir (in English - Ballson D'or) hurler of the year.
The franchise for the hurling Liathróid Óir consisted of the team manager and team captain from each of the fourteen counties that contested for the Liam McCarthy Cup this year - plus a sports journalist from each of those counties.
Callanan swept the contest, capturing almost 50% of the vote. Almost an overall majority. Like his football counterpart, Brian Fenton, it makes up for not winning that other award, the All-Stars hurler of the year.
"Anything you'll get, you'll take!" says Callanan.
LISTEN TO THE FULL SEAMUS CALLANAN INTERVIEW BELOW ON A SPECIAL HARD SHOULDER PODCAST:
Considering that Tipp skinned Waterford alive in the Munster final, eventually beating them by the same margin as in the notorious Lar Corbett final of 2011, it was perhaps understandable that some Tipp supporters were a bit pissy about seeing a non-Tipp player win hurler of the year. How did the favourite Callanan feel? He's a model of diplomacy.
In fairness to Austin Gleeson, he's an absolutely amazing hurler. We'd have no cribs about that at all. We set out to win an All-Ireland final and anything else is kind of irrelevant really. We didn't set out to be players of the year or anything like that.
Regardless of individual awards, Callanan's All-Ireland final performance will be remembered forever. The 2016 title was his first with Tipperary as a starter. He came on as a substitute with fourteen minutes remaining in the 2010 final. Surely, the sense of satisfaction must be deeper this time?
They're different moments in their own regard. 2010 was amazing too. But I suppose when you are starting the game, and to get Man of the Match on All-Ireland final, it's the stuff you dream of. For all to come together on a day like that, personally obviously, 2016 would have been a little step ahead for me, but any day you go out and win a Celtic Cross is a very special day.
Callanan's relatively quiet day in the All-Ireland semi-final, when he laboured under the tigerish marking of Daithi Burke, was widely held to have cost him the All-Stars hurler of the year award. Ironically, in the same fixture at the same stage the previous year, Callanan delivered one of his most celebrated displays, scoring 3-9, and yet Tipp famously lost by a point to Galway.
I was a lot happier after that game than I was the previous year. At the end of the day, the result is all that matters. If teams are going to man-mark me or man-mark other players it always frees up a bit of space for other players to go out and perform and they can really let the shackles off.
It was a landmark win in many ways. The Tipp side of 2016 are the first Munster champions to win the All-Ireland since 2005. The Tipperary team that won the All-Ireland in 2010 did so through the back door. Indeed, in the four seasons from 2012 to 2015, the Munster champions failed to even reach the All-Ireland final.
The stat inevitably provoked questions about the championship structure and whether the standard five week gap between the Munster final and the All-Ireland semi-final was hobbling teams who progress through the province. Even this year, Tipp's least flowing and confident display occurred in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway.
I think we managed it very well this year. We played a lot of club games during the summer. We got in two rounds of club games in that time. It was great to have that to keep you sharp. Our own training is tough and the training matches we have inside are tough. We had no issue with it. Everyone wants more games and they want games more regularly. We were happy to win a Munster championship. We don't mind having a five week break if we can win a Munster championship every year.
Ultimately, Callanan thinks it's no mystery why the Munster champions have so often failed to add Liam McCarthy to their collection in modern times. The clue can be found in the other province. The gap between the Leinster final and the All-Ireland semi-final is no shorter and yet it doesn't often hinder Brian Cody's team.
In fairness, I think probably the main reason Munster champions haven't went on and won games is probably because we were coming up against the likes of Kilkenny and the greatest Kilkenny team of all time through them years. I think they'd have a massive part to play as to why Munster championship teams were not winning All-Ireland finals.
As was the case in his senior playing career with Tipperary, Michael Ryan achieved the ultimate glory in his first year as a manager. As a number one, what, if any, tweaks did he make to get Tipp over the line? Callanan stresses the worth of continuity with the previous regime, given Ryan's long-time involvement in the backroom team.
He was involved for a long time so he knows the players very well. It was great for Michael to take on the role after Eamonn. There was still a sign of Eamonn's team and his genius in the team there. Michael is straight and honest and hard-working and we try to be the same. He gives everyone an equal opportunity. He's a great motivator and a great man.
Even though he stepped away after the 2015 season, the Tipp players rarely fail to pay homage to Eamonn O'Shea and his role in moulding this generation of Tipperary hurlers.
It's very hard to put into words the genius of the man. You'd have to sit down and talk to him yourself to realise how good he really is. He just gave the panel a confidence to go out and play with freedom. He wants players to be out there and express themselves. He's been very good for a lot of lads in their careers. He's a great way of looking at hurling. The panel owes a lot to him. But we've moved onto a new chapter with Mick and Mick has taken it on again.
I think Tipp can do a mixture of styles. We didn't have a free-flowing style in the All-Ireland semi-final but we still got through it and we still carved out a victory. Definitely, he brought elements of movement and he wanted us always to express our skills and showcase our skill levels.
Returning to those glorious final few minutes when Tipperary in full cry pulled away from their great nemesis. Did the Tipp players feel before this year's All-Ireland final that this was their time to slay Kilkenny? Did they believe they had their measure.
We went up with seven points there with a only a few minutes to go in the game and we were still kinda thinking "God, Kilkenny could do anything. They could go down and get a goal and be back in the game" because unfortunately, we've experienced that from them, getting sucker punched a good few times. You could never write off Kilkenny.
