Eleven different counties have been recognised in the football All Star nominations, with just under half of them coming from All-Ireland finalists Dublin and Mayo and a first ever nomination for London.
Monaghan’s first Ulster title in 25 years means six nominations for them, followed by five for Kerry, four for Tyrone, three for Cavan and one each for Meath, Galway, Cork, Donegal and London.
In all, 12 of Dublin's All-Ireland final team have been nominated, with only Jonny Cooper, Ger Brennan and Philly McMahon losing out. Perennial nominee Stephen Cluxton is also shortlisted for Player of the Year, alongside Michael Darragh Macauley and Mayo's Lee Keegan. The other two goalkeeping nominees are Mayo's Rob Hennelly and Monaghan's Rory Beggan.
Make the cut
Rory O'Carroll is the only member of Dublin's full-back line to make the cut, although it could be argued that Cooper has reason to feel hard done by.
Keith Higgins is nominated here, despite having played much of his football in the forwards for Mayo this summer.
Chris Barrett and Ger Cafferkey get the nod alongside him, with Monaghan’s Colin Walshe quietly fancied to find his way into the final selection.
There are well deserved nods for Marc Ó Sé and Cathal McCarron, with the full-back selection filled out by another Monaghan man in Drew Wylie and the marauding young Cavan corner back Killian Clarke.
The half-back line is likely to be the one where the toughest decisions will have to be made. There has clearly been an element of gerrymandering in the nomination process, with Cian O’Sullivan included as a half-back despite starting every game in midfield.
The whole Mayo half-back line has been included, with Keegan, Colm Boyle and Donal Vaughan all obvious choices.
James McCarthy and Jack McCaffrey are included on the back of their fine displays for Dublin over the summer and in any other year one or other of Dessie Mone or Conor Gormley would be hotly fancied to make the final XV.
James Loughrey is Cork's sole nomination, having been a shining light in his first year since moving down from Antrim.
Nominated elsewhere
An indication of the strength of competition in midfield is the fact O'Sullivan and Seán Cavanagh have been nominated elsewhere. The O'Shea brothers from Mayo were always going to make the cut, as was the outstanding Macauley.
Darren Hughes’s leadership in the Monaghan engine room has been rewarded with a first nomination, ditto Anthony Maher and Galway’s Paul Conroy.
While the half-forward line is highly likely to pick itself when the time comes – it’s very difficult to see past Paul Flynn, Colm Cooper and Cavanagh – there are some interesting inclusions outside of that trio.
Chief among them is Lorcan Mulvey, the big Cavan man who becomes London’s first nominee as a nod to the Exiles’ journey to the Connacht final and the last round of the qualifiers.
Another Cavan man, Cian Mackey, was arguably the player of the early summer and may run the above trio close for a place in the side. Diarmuid Connolly, Ciarán Kilkenny, Donnacha Walsh and Mattie Donnelly of Tyrone fill out that line.
The full-forward line is likely to be a much more open affair, with only Bernard Brogan looking like a dead cert. Cillian O'Connor and Cavan's Martin Dunne led the scoring charts by a distance come the end of the summer and O'Connor's average of eight points a game will certainly push him very close to a first award.
Final difficulties
Mayo's All-Ireland final difficulties are reflected in the fact he is their only forward deemed worthy of a nomination.
For the third year in a row, O’Connor makes it into the shortlist for young player of the year – this time alongside McCaffrey and Paul Mannion.
Mannion and Paddy Andrews both get first nominations, making it a clean sweep for all of Dublin’s starting forwards in the All-Ireland final.
Mickey Newman’s unerring accuracy in front of the posts earns him Meath’s sole nomination and it’s a mark of Donegal’s lowered flag that Colm McFadden is their only nod, down from 12 this time last year.
If Brogan and O’Connor both make it into the side the final spot could well come down to a straight choice between Kerry’s James O’Donoghue and Monaghan’s Conor McManus.
