The best corner backs since 2000 would probably look something like this:
- Ollie Canning
- Sean Finn
- Cathal Barrett
- Wayne Sherlock
- Michael Kavanagh
- Barry Nash
- Brian Murphy
- Jackie Tyrell
- Philly Larkin
- Michael Cahill
1990s, 2000s and 2010s (excluding current Limerick team, which has plenty of road in front of it)
Damien Fitzhenry/Eoin Murphy
Tommy Walsh
Brian Lohan
Ollie Canning
Brian Whelahan
Seánie McMahon
JJ Delaney
Michael Fennelly
Ken McGrath
Richie Power
Henry Shefflin
TJ Reid
Eoin Kelly (Tipperary)/John Mullane
Joe Canning
DJ Carey
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Kelly would have adapted to any game. His form on a bad Tipp team of the mid 2000s shows he would have been an elite forward now or in any period. Any questioning this knows nothing about hurling.
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Think you’d be hard pressed to beat this for a pure Style XV.
Fitzhenry
Corcoran - Darragh Ryan - Nash
Walsh - McGrath - G.McInerney
Teddy Mac – Ciaran Carey
Canning - Tony Kelly - DJ Carey
Fox - Shanahan - Fitzgibbon
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That’s just not how it works, you’re desperately biased in your view. Kelly was a carried freetaker for a finish.
If you had said Canning I would agree with you
Was Shanahan all that stylish?
I always liked Richie Power, no doubting his class but I would always find it hard to include him in these types of teams as he was often the bass guitarist rather than the lead singer or lead guitarist in that Kilkenny attack. Offhand, I’d find it hard to recall too many utterly dominant performances from him in the manner than Henry, TJ, DJ and to a lesser extent Eddie Brennan and Larkin gave.
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From 2002-2006 he was unplayable ffs.
I agree. Crippled by injuries also.
You could argue Larkin was a far more consistent player throughout all those years.
Ok. How would that version of him do in 2023? Probably not very well.
He fell off precipitously in the Sheedy era anyway when games became more physical
The Eoin Kelly of that period would be as good as Aaron Gillane of 2023.
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Corner backs would run out past him
Richie Power is one of the three best hurlers, for out and out skill combined with smarts and bravery, I have ever seen, along with DJ Carey and Brian Whelahan. Lot of others close enough – especially Henry Shefflin – but that trio for me. So RP had to be in.
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No they wouldn’t.
He would struggle to score off Barrett
Henry Shefflin was exceptional, one of the best ever. But he wasn’t a stylist.
He had a particular swashbuckling style which was mesmerising to watch at its best, probably best exemplified in his performances against Cork in 2007. There was a buzz in the crowd when the ball would come to him in those games that I’ve experienced with very few other players, Ciaran Carey had it too, Tony Kelly has it now. The buzz of expectation that something big was about to happen, then the buzz of seeing it happen. That in itself only happens because of a player’s style. Styles come in different shapes and forms but there’s no mistaking style when you see it.
For similar reasons I considered Shanahan a more exciting player to watch than, say Tipperary’s Eoin Kelly, I consider Damien Comer a much more exciting Gaelic football player to watch than Shane Walsh.
It’s like with women, some women deemed to be conventionally extremely beautiful would leave you cold, whereas others who might not be as conventionally beautiful, you find way more attractive.
Some players just grab you and some don’t.
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It would be a good battle, 2002-06 Kelly would probably win it in my opinion.
I remember him pulling the strings against Galway 2010 in Tullamore - his vision was unbelievable and he was versatile in that he could play many positions and roles. Would have been interesting to see how he would have done for a couple of years if everything ran through him like Richie and TJ after the other greats left the stage
Eoin Kelly (Waterford) near as well – but… I once wrote that EK “vanished into the labyrinth of his temperament”, which still seems a fair assessment. That EK was as good a striker of sliotar as I have ever seen.
The contemporary equivalent, of course, is Austin Gleeson – right up there as well.
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