Limerick duo Diarmaid Byrnes and Barry Nash and Kilkenny’s TJ Reid have been shortlisted for the PwC Hurler of the Year award.
Byrnes and Nash are two of 12 Limerick players nominated for the PwC All Star awards, while Reid is among a contingent of eight from Kilkenny, with the list of 45 completed by players from Clare, Galway (eight each), Coke (three), Wexford (two), Dublin, Tipperary, Westmeath and Waterford (one each).
Should either of the Limerick pair win the award, it would be the first time for a defender to claim the most prestigious individual prize in the game since Kilkenny’s Tommy Walsh was honoured back in 2009.
The only other defenders to win the All Stars version of the player of the year, which started in 1995, are Brian Lohan (Clare, 1995), JJ Delaney (Kilkenny, 2003) and Sean Óg Ó hAilpín (Cork, 2004).
Reid is also chasing a bit of history as the Kilkenny legend, who turns 35 in November, would be the oldest ever winner of the award, surpassing his Ballyhale Shamrocks clubmate Henry Shefflin, who was 33 when he won it for the third time in 2012, should he come out on top.
He would also become just the third player, after Shefflin and Limerick’s Cian Lynch, to win it more than once.
Additionally, Reid would be the oldest player to win any of the Hurler of the Year award schemes since fellow countyman Noel Skehan, who was 38 when he claimed the now defunct Texaco accolade back in 1982, while only Frank Cummins (Kilkenny, 1983), Nick O’Donnell (Wexford, 1960) and Christy Ring (Cork, 1959) were more senior than Reid is now when taking that particular prize.
Kilkenny also feature prominently in the Young Hurler of the Year stakes, with Mikey Butler and Eoin Cody nominated alongside Cork’s Ciaran Joyce.
The young player awards scheme has been altered slightly this year with the age of eligibility being lifted from 21 to 22.
The Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year will be determined by a vote among the senior inter-county playing body and will be revealed at the All Stars banquet on October 28.
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