Two Limerick men hard done by as Hurler of the Year and Young Hurler nominees announced

This is hard to believe.

Graeme Mulcahy was tipped by many to collect the Hurler of the Year gong for 2018. The Kilmallock club man was on fire from the very first day in this year's championship against Tipperary in the Gaelic Grounds to the last against Galway in Croke Park. He skinned each and every of Tipperary's inside back line on his way to four points from play in that Munster opener and he popped up with a crucial goal and the winning point in the Liam MacCarthy decider. His scoring returns in between those two pivotal games were unrelenting too.

• 0-4 vs. Tipperary
• 0-2 vs. Cork
• 1-0 vs. Waterford
• 0-0 vs. Clare
• 1-1 vs. Carlow
• 0-3 vs. Kilkenny
• 0-4 vs. Cork
• 1-2 vs. Galway (Final)

And then he went out and scored nine from play in the Limerick senior club championship against a fancied Patrickswell side last weekend. Big players come up with big plays and nobody stood taller than Mulcahy when the stakes were at their highest for Limerick this year. That's why there was plenty of surprise when the three nominees were announced for Hurler of the Year on Thursday morning, and Mulcahy wasn't one of them. Indeed the selection committee feel that the competition for the highest gong in hurling is between Joe Canning, Padraic Mannion and Cian Lynch. Those three lads had brilliant years this year, but even Cian Lynch would struggle to argue that he was more effective than Mulcahy on the whole. Another Limerick man can feel aggrieved at not being included in the three man shortlist for Young Hurler of the Year. It's widely accepted that this is a two horse race between Darragh Fitzgibbon and Kyle Hayes, but the inclusion of Mark Coleman as the third man ahead of Seamus Flanagan is difficult to agree with. So strong and direct, Flanagan caused problems aplenty for Galway in the final but that was just a continuation of what he was doing all year, tackling everything that moved and putting scores on plates for his teammates. Coleman had an impressive year for Cork again, but he struggled in the semi-final where Flanagan stood out.