Imagine these 15 players on the same team.
In last week’s #TheToughest Choice, we asked the readers of JOE and SportsJOE to select an All-Star team based on the 2016 Football Championship so far.
The final itself, of course, is likely to have a massive bearing on the actual All-Star team, but we’d still expect a lot of players who made this XV to earn individual gongs at the All-Star awards a little later in the year.
Readers of both sites responded in their droves and as you will see in the final results below, a few lines of the pitch were decided by the finest of margins.
Here’s the XV you settled on in the end; it would take serious beating. Click here for a larger image.
Goalkeeper: Evan Comerford (Tipperary)
Mayo’s David Clarke ran him close, but in the end it was Tipperary’s Evan Comerford who claimed the number one spot, with over half of all voters nominating the netminder from the Premier County.
A safe presence between the sticks with a kickout that launched attack after attack for Liam Kearns’ side throughout a memorable campaign, Comerford is thoroughly deserving of being the first name on the team sheet.
Full-back line: Jonny Cooper (Dublin), Keith Higgins (Mayo), Philly McMahon (Dublin)
No huge surprises in what is a heavyweight full-back line made up of two players who have won All-Stars already – Higgins and McMahon – and another who seems a shoo-in to land an award this season.
Cooper and McMahon have made light of the significant absence of Rory O’Carroll in the Dublin full-back line, while the consistently excellent Higgins shone against Tyrone and was man of the match against Tipperary in the semi-final.
Half-back line: Lee Keegan (Mayo), Peter Harte (Tyrone), Cian O’Sullivan (Dublin)
It could be argued that the likes of Ryan McHugh or Peter Harte could have been accommodated elsewhere due to their versatility, but pitting some of the best footballers in the country against each other in the half-back line means that the Donegal man is probably the most high-profile omission from the XV.
That said, it’s hard to argue with the inclusion of Keegan and O’Sullivan – both legitimate Footballer of the Year contenders at this moment in time – while Peter Harte was the driving force in Tyrone’s first Ulster title victory since 2010.
Midfield: Brian Fenton (Dublin), Peter Acheson (Tipperary)
Midfield was a lot more clear-cut than many of the other lines on the pitch, with Dublin’s Brian Fenton and Tipperary’s Peter Acheson standing head and shoulders above the rest.
Fenton has embellished his status as arguably the best midfielder in the country with his displays this season, while all-action Acheson was a powerhouse for Tipp in the middle of the park and even played the entire All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo with a broken hand.
Half-forward line: Diarmuid Connolly (Dublin), Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin), Aidan O’Shea (Mayo)
No surprises that the sublimely talented Diarmuid Connolly topped the poll in the half-forward line with just under 30% of the vote, just reward for a series of ridiculously good performances once again in 2016.
Alongside him, Ciaran Kilkenny has often acted as the conductor in the Dubs’ orchestra and Aidan O’Shea has been a massive presence for Mayo since they arrived in Croke Park for the serious business from late July onwards.
Full-forward line: Michael Quinlivan (Tipperary), Kevin McManamon (Dublin), Paul Geaney (Kerry)
The fact that Dean Rock and Andy Moran have been excluded from the full-forward line tells you all you need to know about the quality in the last line of the pitch.
Excellent in the run-up to the semi-final, Paul Geaney led the fight for Kerry against Dublin in the semi-final with 1-4 from play from limited opportunities.
Once known as a supersub, McManamon has made himself undroppable with his displays in 2016 and once again proved the thorn in Kerry’s (and Peter Crowley’s, but let’s not go there) side.
Quinlivan, meanwhile, led the Tipperary attack in style in their remarkable run to the semi-final and will be hard pushed out of the All-Star full forward line, even if Moran, Rock, Cillian O’Connor or Bernard Brogan shoot the lights out in the final.
