2006 All Stars

[SuperDooperCooper]

Jesus lads any forward who scores 2-12 in the final qualifier, QF, Semi and final, helps to lift Sam, was his counties best player in the league surley deserves an All-Star. Cooper wasn't as good in '06 as he was in '02, '04 or '05 but he was still worthy of an allstar. He is pure class.

[dubnut]

I think Coopers problem is he set his standards so high early on.
Even when he is below par he is still better than most.

[Jack Dempsey]

you are probably right, better season than mortimer but not as good as he is used to.

[magpie seanie]

Wasnt Owens fecked outta the way like a little boy by Clarke in the ulster Championship

Not sure, I didn't see it. Everyone saw what Donaghy did to Bellew. To suggest Bellew should have got the Allstar is a joke and an example of the kind of shit that loses us good contributers on this board.

[umgolaarmagh]

Will go watch it again!!

[Kerry Mike]

Six for Kerry seems about right given we won the double. Hard to argue with any of the 6 except maybe Moynihan.

Marc O'Se had a great year in league and championship and was always in line for an All Star. He also has the distinction of becoming Kerry's 100th All Star (see Below)

Aidan O'Mahoney was also very consistant and putting Ciaran McDonald in his arse pocket for the AI final was his clincher. Moynihan was himself, very consistant though I thought he struggled in Munster and also in the Armagh game in the first half, but his final performances in the league and AI final were excellent and he can retire happy now.

Darragh O'Se was the outstanding midfielder of the year and he really stood up against Armagh and then against Cork when Kerry needed him. Deserved award. Maybe the awards for the 2 brothers will drive Tomas on for a bigger season next year than he had in this one.

Paul Galvin was my Kerry player of the year and when we needed tough ball to be won he was stuck in everything including any bit of scelping that went on, only other Kerry player besides Colm Cooper to score in every game. A vital part of the kerry team with his hunger, and battling qualities for the ball. Very fast and skilful on the ball too. Needs a cooler head at times and to improve his bottle throwing.  

Kieran Donaghy was having a fine season slotting in as Darragh O'Se partner in midfield and people were talking about him as a long term replacement for O'Se. And then he got sent off against Cork for a nothing tackle and missed the Munster final replay. But his and our season just took off after that. Thrown in at full forward for the first time against Longford in a brave move by Jack O'Connor, the first few balls into him he caused havoc and full backs all over the country started having nightmares. He had a hand in most of the 11 goals we scored in the last 3 games and his crackers against Armagh and Mayo will live long in the memory. Will find it hard to produce an encore in 2007

The high ball grabbed, full back David Heaney shrugged off and WHAM!, the net almost torn from the rigging. Nine minutes old, the game already over...

As for the other nominations, No goal keeper really stood out and Cluxton gets its probably for his kick outs rather than actual goalkeeping skills. Owen and Lacey had good years but Tom O'Sullivan can probably feel the odd one out. Ger Spillane was just about the pick of centre backs and probably nudges out Bryan Cullen with Motnihan being picked out of position to push out Higgins. Nicky Murphy had a good year too and will enjoy the "knees up" at the All Stars do.

Brogan was the best 11 by a long way but if Declan O'Sullivan had a full year of good form he might have pushed him close. Dillon played well until the AIF but gets the award on merit for his scoring. Morty The Blond also gets in for his points scoring throughout the year and 2 last minute winners but he can count himself lucky that Colm Cooper had an off season and even with that the Gooch was not far away.
Clarke in the other corner really had no opposition and he played well against Kerry.

Kerry's All Stars List:
1971: D. O'Sullivan
1972: D. O'Sullivan, M. O'Connell
1973: J. O'Keeffe
1974: P. Lynch
1975: G. Power, J. O'Keeffe, J. Egan, P. O'Mahony, M. O'Sullivan
1976: P. Spillane, M. Sheehy, G. Power, J. O'Keeffe, G. O'Keeffe
1977: P. Spillane, J. Egan
1978: P. Spillane, M. Sheehy, G. Power, J. O'Keeffe, J. Egan, P. Lynch
1979: P. Spillane, M. Sheehy, G. Power, J. O'Keeffe, T. Kennelly, S. Walsh
1980: P. Spillane, G. Power, J. O'Shea, J. Egan, E. Liston, T. Kennelly, C. Nelligan
1981: P. Spillane, M. Sheehy, J. O'Shea, P. O Se, E. Liston, P. Lynch, S. Walsh, J. Deenihan, D. Moran
1982: M. Sheehy, J. O'Shea, J. Egan, P. O Se, E. Liston
1983: J. O'Shea, P. O Se
1984: P. Spillane, M. Sheehy, J. O'Shea, P. O Se, E. Liston, T. Doyle, T. Spillane
1985: P. Spillane, J. O'Shea, P. O Se, T. Doyle, M. Spillane
1986: P. Spillane, M. Sheehy, G. Power, T. Doyle, T. Spillane, C. Nelligan
1987: T. Spillane, G. Lynch
1988: M. Fitzgerald
1989: C. Murphy
1996: M. Fitzgerald
1997: M. Fitzgerald, D. O'Keeffe, S. Moynihan, E. Breen, P. Laide
2000: D. O'Keeffe, S. Moynihan, M. McCarthy, D. O Se, L. Hassett, MF Russell
2001: J. Crowley
2002: D O Se, C Cooper
2004: D Murphy, T O'Sullivan, M McCarthy, T O Se, P Galvin, C Cooper
2005: D. Murphy, M. McCarthy, T. O Se, C. Cooper
2006: M. O Se, S. Moynihan, A O Mahoney, D. O Se, P. Galvin, K. Donaghy

[Barney]

Delighted for the Mayo lads. Fair play to Conoreen and Alan. Both richly deserved. Unfortunately could not make an arguement for any of the other lads. Their capitulation in the Final muddied the waters. Keith Higgins should be Young Player of the Year. Excellent through most of the championship, superb in the league and u21 championship.

Now Gooch had a dire Munster championship by any standards but improved as the year went on. Mortimer still had a better year. Particularly in Croke Park. Scored 4 points from play in 3/4 big games against Griffin and Higgins who are often lauded here. The Final was bad but so was the supply!  

[Erne Man1]

Fermanagh played armagh twice this year - unless my memory is wrong Owens got MOTM in the drawn game, and Clarke got MOTM in the replay - 2 class acts with not much separating them whenever they meet.
Barry got his all-star on the basis of exposure this year - in Fermanagh's 2 televised games this year, v Armagh and Donegal he was man of the match in both. He was pretty steady all year without being spectacular.
He got his award becuase he didn't really have any competition - Bellew was poor apart from the Donegal game (he was brutal both days against Fermanagh), Heaney is a CHB/Midfielder playing full back and looks it against quality forwards (Donaghy, Keaney and even Garvan for a half) got the better of him this year, and both Kerry and Dublin lack quality at full-back

[Barney]

Agree. I think Heaney had a distinctly average year. He pulled us into games at times through being a good captain but as a full-back he was poor.

[StoneWall]

ALL STARS SELECTION COMMITTEE:

Martin Breheny (Irish Independent), Jim O'Sullivan (Irish Examiner), Brian Carthy (RTÉ Radio), Michael Lyster (RTÉ TV), Eamon O'Hara (Irish News), Peter Sweeney (Irish Star), Martan Ó Ciadhra (RnaG), Seán Moran (The Irish Times), Adrian Logan (UTV), Alan Milton (Irish Sun), Keith Duggan (The Irish Times), Colm Keys (Irish Independent), Frank Roche (Evening Herald) and Seán McGoldrick (Sunday World).

[Josey Whales]

i know i'm biased but i think Cullen's ommision is a disgrace. No argument with Spillane or O mahoney but Moynihan got a sympathy vote.

[Jack Dempsey]

both Kerry and Dublin lack quality at full-back

Kerry do lack quality at full but only because Mike McCarthy has retired

[dodo]

i know i'm biased but i think Cullen's ommision is a disgrace. No argument with Spillane or O mahoney but Moynihan got a sympathy vote.

How can it be a disgrace. Dublin got 2 All Stars. Brogan deserves every accolade he gets. Cluxton is a good keeper who hardly stood out this year and yet gets recognised because he is a Dub and always gets talked up. Cullen is a very good footballer but is always talked about as being better than he is. I think that he will continue to improve and has the potential to be a future All Star automatic.

Was he deserving so much for this to be a disgrace ?  

[Josey Whales]

i didn't think Moynihan had  a good year and the reality is the journalists know what side their bread is buttered on. I don't think he deserved one. That's my opinion . He was poor in the munster championship and only really had a good final- which in fairness was an armchair ride because Mayo didn't show . I wonder would he have got one had he not retired.
I think Mc Carthy from Kerry can call himself unlucky- i'd have picked him somewhere in the backs. Brian Kavanagh as well must have been close. Paul Griffin can't have been far away either.

[ONeill]

I think this is a fairly acceptable line-up, with the possible exception of McCarthy's omission a talking point. Good to see Ulster nabbing three All-Stars with Lacey's inclusion particularly pleasing. I wonder will PTG's recent important contributions to the club competition mean a recount will be the order of the day.