It is an incredible honour.
Being nominated for an All-Star is something else, training hard all year for your peers to think you are among the best of the best.
GAA is a team sport, that’s what it is all about but for all the sacrifices that are but it’s nice to be recognised at the end of the year individually for what you have achieved.
Dublin have a host of players nominated for the coveted awards this year with them and Mayo expected to dominate the team.
The full list of Dublin players are:
- Stephen Cluxton
- Jack McCaffrey
- Cian O’Sullivan
- Michael Fitzsimons
- Philip McMahon
- John Small
- Jonny Cooper
- James McCarthy
- Brian Fenton
- Ciarán Kilkenny
- Con O’Callaghan
- Paul Mannion
- Dean Rock
It has been an impressive year for Cuala’s Con O’Callaghan, the 21-year-old won the All-Ireland Club Hurling final on St.Patrick’s day along with an Under-21 All-Ireland title and of course the senior title he has and O’Callaghan is expected to win Young Player of the Year as well as possibly pick up an All-Star too.
But on the day that he found out about his nominated, O’Callaghan put it all into perspective:
“It’s great,” O’Callaghan said.
“Look, individual awards as people always say they’re great but if we didn’t come over the line and we didn’t win by that one point against Mayo it wouldn’t really mean much.”
This experience may be a new one for the Cuala man but a more seasoned veteran is Cian O’Sullivan, the Kilmacud Crokes man has five All-Ireland titles to his name along with a couple of All-Stars and award number three might well be on the way.
Speaking to SportsJOE, O’Sullivan discussed the honour of being nominated but the importance of the team:
“It’s a cherry on the top of the cake, every player in the 32 counties involved going into the start of the year it’s about the team and you want to win,” he said.
“There’s something in the league, a division title or whatever you’re setting out at the start of the year to win that is the most important thing.
“Winning the All-Ireland for us was the most important thing this year and to do that it doesn’t get any better than that and to share those moments when the final whistles goals with your teammates on the pitch and you go into the dressing room after and the couple of days after there is no better place or feeling in the world.Â
“And then to get the individual recognition as well it’s really nice but I guess we are coming from an environment that it is all about the team and that’s what you’re hard-wired to really care about and it’s not an individual sport so these individual accolades while they are really nice and flattering, it’s the team medals that you really look after.”
