Imperious Hegarty named The Sunday Game Hurler of Year
The Sunday Game have chosen Gearoid Hegarty as their Hurler of the Year with dominant All-Ireland champions Limerick taking up no less than 10 positions on the show's Team of the Year.
Hegarty was at his imperious best as the Treaty County romped past Galway in Sunday's showpiece at Croke Park and he forms one-third of an all-Limerick half-forward line in our best 15 of the 2026 season.
Beaten finalists Galway take up three spots on the final selection with one each for Clare and Cork.
The Sunday Game Team of the Year
1. Nickie Quaid (Limerick)
Another banner year for Limerick's last line of defence. His stunning save in the first half of the Munster final proved one of the most breathtaking highlights of the year. "Nickie Quaid - what a man, what a player, what a goalkeeper!" exclaimed our own Marty Morrissey after the Effin man's spectacular stop. What a goalkeeper indeed. A shoo-in for a fourth All-Star award.
2. Sean Finn (Limerick)
Not the first time we've deigned to include the Bruff defender in our Sunday Game Team of the Year and that won't come as much of a surprise to anyone. One-third of the stingiest full-back line in the country.
3. Darren Morrissey (Galway)
The All-Ireland final might not have gone very well for Morrissey or his team-mates, but the Galway captain was one of the driving forces behind the Tribesmen swashbuckling march to the decider. The Sarsfields man was Micheál Donoghue's on-pitch leader. Morrissey duly led by deed and will. One of Galway's very best.
4. Barry Nash (Limerick)
Nash patrolled the other corner of Limerick's rearguard, with he and Finn either side of No Piarsaigh's Mike Casey. 'Thou Shalt Not Pass' may well be the mantra of the Treaty terrors. Nash usually finds time to escape up field every now and then for a score or two of his own - as he did in the All-Ireland. The quintessential modern-day corner-back.
5. Diarmaid Byrnes (Limerick)
Our half-back line has a distinctly Limerick brogue about it. Byrnes enjoyed another stellar campaign in 2026, as happy in possession as out of it shadowing a dangerous half-forward. The Patrickswell winger remains a long-range threat from play and from the dead ball.
6. Will O'Donoghue (Limerick)
One of three Na Piarsaigh clubmen to start Sunday's All-Ireland final - along with the Casey brothers, Mike and Peter - O'Donoghue has been the lynchpin of the Treaty defensive unit and effectively the anchor of the team behind captain Lynch in midfield. Dominant in the air. The calmest man on the pitch.
7. Kyle Hayes (Limerick)
Another sure-footed final performance from Hayes as he helped himself to two points from play aganst Galway and hurled his way through an endless amount of ball. The Kildimo-Pallaskenry star has proven himself one of the game's most crucial operators for a number of seasons. A crucial cog in John Kiely's winning machine.
8. Cian Lynch (Limerick)
A few hours before Lionel Messi would star in another World Cup final, his hurling equivalent graced the Croke Park turf with the kind of wizardry we've come to expect of the Patrickswell sorcerer since he burst onto the scene. RTÉ pundit Shane McGrath gave our GAA podcast a wonderful insight into a young, raw Lynch who exclaimed during a challenge match between Limerick and McGrath's own Tipperary some years back, "Jesus, Bubbles [Dwyer] is class, isn't he?" Young hurlers will wax even more lyrical about Lynch when he reaches the stage of 'elder statesmen'.
9. Cathal Mannion (Galway)
Like his skipper Morrissey, Galway simply wouldn't have found themselves within an ass's roar of an All-Ireland final without the guile, bravery and unerring shooting of Cathal Mannion. The Ahascragh Fohenagh clubman struggled to gain a foothold in the decider, but he had done more than most to take the Tribesmen back to Croke Park.
10. Gearóid Hegarty (Limerick)
What more can you say about the Treaty colossus? Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly - one of the most quotable personalities of his day - as he introduced his big-name 1961 signing, centre-half Ron Yeats, is said to have urged reporters to "come in and walk around him". The 6ft5in Hegarty gives off such an energy. A massive man, in stature and deed.
11. Aidan O'Connor (Limerick)
In Gaelic games, every great team includes a great freetaker and Limerick are no different. Ballybrown man O'Connor keeps the scoreboard hectic from placed balls and keeps the ball moving from play. You foul a Limerick player within scoring range at your peril these days. As good as scribbling the inevitable point into the referee's notepad yourself.
12. Cathal O'Neill (Limerick)
In a season where he continued to show himself to be one of the most dangerous marksmen in the country, O'Neill saved his best performance for last. The Crecora/Manister wing-forward ran riot against Galway and finished his day with 1-04 from play.
13. Jason Rabbitte (Galway)
One of Galway's teenage terrors along with his freescoring mate in the inside-forward line, Aaron Niland. It's often said you have to lose one of these things before you can win one. And that might well be true of Joe Rabbitte's gifted young son. Promises to assault the senses of full-backs the length and breadth of this island for many years to come.
14. Peter Duggan (Clare)
The Banner County's sole representative on this year's selection, but his case was a hard one to ignore. Another prolific summer for the Clooney-Quin maestro but his audacious and outrageous point from under the Cusack Stand in the All-Ireland semi-final against the eventual champions is the pick of the litter.
15. Brian Hayes (Cork)
If the 2026 season had ended at half-time of Cork's All-Ireland semi-final with Galway, Brian Hayes might well have been one of the favourites to be crowned Hurler of the Year. The prolific St Finbarr's star makes The Sunday Game Team of the Year for the third straight year.
ALL-IRELAND FINAL MAN OF THE MATCH
Cathal O'Neill (Limerick)
His finest performance in a year of fine performances. O'Neill's early second half goal put the game away long before Colm Lyons' final whistle. A goal that sums up the ruthless efficiency of John Kiely's squad. A direct ball from deep into the corner where Aaron Gillane had - as always - slipped his man. Gillane held the sliotar up and switched it inside to the hard-running O'Neill. From there, the Crecora/Manister forward stepped inside his marker and buried an unstoppable finish low into Darach Fahy's net. Remorseless.
THE SUNDAY GAME HURLER OF THE YEAR
Gearóid Hegarty (Limerick)
We could have made cases for many of Hegarty's highly-decorated clubmates, but the St Patrick's man continues to redefine what modern half-forward play looks like. A player that can dominate a game while maybe scoring a single point - or even none at all, as with Sunday's final. His sheer physicality tends to make him an obvious target for opposition enforcers. 'Hammer the Hammer' and all of that. Hegarty has never taken a backward step in his hurling life. Our stand-out Player of the Year.
