Who Is The Greatest Hurler That You Have Ever Seen

Straight Talker

For me it's Brian Corcoran.

In the modern era Brian Corcoran would be head and shoulders above anyone else as the ultimate all round hurler,while spending a large portion of his early career in a poor Cork side he was the one shining light.all-stars at corner back centre back and full forward, 2 Tesco hurler of the year awards, one in 1992 the youngest player ever to receive this, a record which still stands . no one has ever single handedly won an all Ireland for a team like Corcoran did for Cork in 1999, Cork would have been beaten in every game that year but for his brilliance in being man of the match in every game, no other player has had a year like this since. his point from his knees against limerick and his glorious late score against kilkenney in the 04 final will live long in the memory too.Corcoran had to do things the hard way, he won all irelands for cork not the other way round.btw Brians drop goal against Waterford in 05 and the way he defied Waterford attacker after Waterford attacker towards the end of the 06 all ireland semi final will also live long in the memory.He was a fine footballer for Cork as well when he was played in the half back line but as the great man himself said they always played me in that blasted full back line.:pac:

Third midfielder

Jimmy Barry Murphy (Ken McGrath a close second)

Tombo2001

Sheff, then Tommy Walsh

Youssef Chippo

Straight Talker wrote: »

For me it's Brian Corcoran.

In the modern era Brian Corcoran would be head and shoulders above anyone else as the ultimate all round hurler

Someone's had one too many

THE LINK WALSH

DJ Carey,nobody has ever got goals like him,its possible that nobody ever will,he was the greatest goalscorer in hurling history,no doubt about it.

orion50

I'm a galway man. the reason cody has wom so many is because of king Henry. The reach of the man is awesome. definitely more influential than DJ and Brian corcoran? dont do a good hurler a disservice by including him and then seeing him slagged.

THE LINK WALSH

orion50 wrote: »

I'm a galway man. the reason cody has wom so many is because of king Henry. The reach of the man is awesome. definitely more influential than DJ and Brian corcoran? dont do a good hurler a disservice by including him and then seeing him slagged.

Do me a favour and stop trying to tell me who the best hurler ive ever seen is,up to this minute its DJ Carey,ive seen both himself and Henry hurl in hundreds of games at club and inter county level at various grades,DJ was electric when he got the ball,goals came out of nothing most of the time,he was an unbelievable finisher.Henry is and was brilliant also,but in a different way.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

For consistent excellence Id have to say Tommy Walsh. A force of nature.

phkk

"There's only one DJ Ger" says Cyril Farrell. I agree with him 100%. Class apart. Best hurler I've seen.

The barber of chewbacca

There's been so many great players... Best I've ever seen
DJ Carey, Shef, Brian Corcoran , Ken McGrath, Sean McMahon, Joe Dooley...

Joe Canning in a few years COULD be up there.

Duiske

The barber of chewbacca wrote: »

There's been so many great players... Best I've ever seen
DJ Carey, Shef, Brian Corcoran , Ken McGrath, Sean McMahon, Joe Dooley...

Joe Canning in a few years COULD be up there.

I suspect that by the end of Canning's career he will have got very close to, if not broken, Shef's record as all-time top scorer in the championship .
I would love to have seen the likes of Ring, Nicky Rackard (59 goals in 36 championship games :eek:) and Jimmy Doyle play. One of my hero's growing up was Eddie Keher, but I think DJ was probably the greatest.

3rdDegree

DJ was a great man to score. But Henry is the greatest. A great man to score too, a leader, motivator and brilliant all round player. He sets up as many if not more than he scores.

locked

tommy tommy walsh

Clareman

This is a great idea for a thread, I would recommend that people just nominate their own choices rather than arguing with other people opinions, after all there is no right or wrong answer.

For me I'll be very biased and go for either Seanie McMahon or Colin Lynch. Seanie was a rock at centre back for Clare, he was ultra reliable from frees. Colin was 1 of the best players to read a game and always be in the right spot, he also scored some very important scores and set-up many more.

BQQ

Straight Talker wrote: »

For me it's Brian Corcoran.

In the modern era Brian Corcoran would be head and shoulders above anyone else as the ultimate all round hurler,while spending a large portion of his early career in a poor Cork side he was the one shining light.all-stars at corner back centre back and full forward, 2 Tesco hurler of the year awards, one in 1992 the youngest player ever to receive this, a record which still stands . no one has ever single handedly won an all Ireland for a team like Corcoran did for Cork in 1999, Cork would have been beaten in every game that year but for his brilliance in being man of the match in every game, no other player has had a year like this since. his point from his knees against limerick and his glorious late score against kilkenney in the 04 final will live long in the memory too.Corcoran had to do things the hard way, he won all irelands for cork not the other way round.btw Brians drop goal against Waterford in 05 and the way he defied Waterford attacker after Waterford attacker towards the end of the 06 all ireland semi final will also live long in the memory.He was a fine footballer for Cork as well when he was played in the half back line but as the great man himself said they always played me in that blasted full back line.:pac:

Noel Hickey.

Captained KK to all-ireland u/21 title in his only year at that level.
Won young hurler of the year, an all-star and the all-ireland c'ship in his debut season at senior.
Memorably didn't give Brian Corcoran a touch of the ball in the 2006 All-Ireland final
Now has 9 all-Ireland medals.

"It's not all about flashy scorers, Ger". :pac:

Tombo2001

The reason I'd go for Shefflin is this:

If the question was "who is the most skilful hurler, or who is the most talented hurler" then the answer might be different, it might be canning or dj carey or tommy walsh.....like to see canning knocking over the sideline pucks for a point is amazing, very few people have been able to do that in the history of the game....similarly, very few have been able to catch high ball like Tommy Walsh....

But for me Shefflin ..... dont really know how to articulate this, but he's th guy who makes the game revolve around him, he's always at the centre of it, he sees more than just what he's doing himself, he seems to be a guy who can run the strategy of the whole team while he's on the pitch himself....and thats added to his invidividuals skills. i dont know of any other player who can do this in gaa to the same degree, closest analogy might be Brian O'Driscoll. Darragh O'Se in football maybe would be similar.

To put it another way, if you were to ask who would kilkenny miss more if they were injured on all-ireland final day, DJ or Henry, if both were at their prime, I;d say Henry.

red_diesel

Inter-County: Henry or DJ. Henry is consistently brilliant and has played in great teams but DJ could create a goal out of absolutely nothing. For me DJ, just pips it
Club: Ray Heffernan of Glenmore. Was part of the great Glenmore side of the 80's and 90's. Would score 10+ points in each game. Great free taker. Played with this laid back swagger but was head and shoulders above everyone else in a side that included the O'Conner's, Liam Walsh, Titch Phelan and his brother Christy. A joy to watch.

dastardly00

Henry.

ft9

red_diesel wrote: »

Inter-County: Henry or DJ. Henry is consistently brilliant and has played in great teams but DJ could create a goal out of absolutely nothing. For me DJ, just pips it
Club: Ray Heffernan of Glenmore. Was part of the great Glenmore side of the 80's and 90's. Would score 10+ points in each game. Great free taker. Played with this laid back swagger but was head and shoulders above everyone else in a side that included the O'Conner's, Liam Walsh, Titch Phelan and his brother Christy. A joy to watch.

Young Wally Walsh is very similiar to the Heffernans.

mickmackey1

red_diesel wrote: »

Club: Ray Heffernan of Glenmore.

Ciaran Carey of Patrickswell. Remember him putting on an exhibition in a county championship match some years ago, and it really summed up for me the difference between the greats and the rest.

Straight Talker

BQQ wrote: »

Noel Hickey.

Captained KK to all-ireland u/21 title in his only year at that level.
Won young hurler of the year, an all-star and the all-ireland c'ship in his debut season at senior.
Memorably didn't give Brian Corcoran a touch of the ball in the 2006 All-Ireland final
Now has 9 all-Ireland medals.

"It's not all about flashy scorers, Ger". :pac:

Brian has a fine record against Kilkenny.He kept his man scoreless in the 92 all ireland final.He bossed John Power in the 99 all ireland final and he dominated Noel Hickey in the 04 all ireland final.In the 06 all ireland final Brian was playing on a Cork team that was beaten in nearly every position and he was on the receiving end of crap ball sent into the full forward line.Who knows if it wasn't for a power crazed and vindictive county board Brian could have won even more honours.;) He could get the flashy scores,he stopped them as a back and he was a handy footballer sure what more could you want and he always played the ball not the man.

pappyodaniel

DJ Carey.
I can think of many fine hurlers over the 25years I've been watching the game but no one done the business at such a high level over such a long period as the Kilkenny man.

BQQ

Straight Talker wrote: »

Brian has a fine record against Kilkenny.He kept his man scoreless in the 92 all ireland final.He bossed John Power in the 99 all ireland final and he dominated Noel Hickey in the 04 all ireland final.In the 06 all ireland final Brian was playing on a Cork team that was beaten in nearly every position and he was on the receiving end of crap ball sent into the full forward line.Who knows if it wasn't for a power crazed and vindictive county board Brian could have won even more honours.;) He could get the flashy scores,he stopped them as a back and he was a handy footballer sure what more could you want and he always played the ball not the man.

That's the red-tinted view. Allow me to give you a black and amber perspective.

I was at the game in 99 and John Power broke a lot of ball in that game. He even scored a point and narrowly missed another chance even though he wasn't known for scoring. Corcoran played well, but Power showed up better than most KK forwards that day. "bossed" is well wide of the mark.

In 04 KK backs were under constant pressure as Cork's half-back line cleaned us out. With this endless supply of ball B Corcoran managed two points. Hardly "dominated".

That word would be better used to describe what Hickey did in 06 as he kept cork's talisman tucked away in his pocket for the 70 mins.

Straight Talker

BQQ wrote: »

That's the red-tinted view. Allow me to give you a black and amber perspective.

I was at the game in 99 and John Power broke a lot of ball in that game. He even scored a point and narrowly missed another chance even though he wasn't known for scoring. Corcoran played well, but Power showed up better than most KK forwards that day. "bossed" is well wide of the mark.

In 04 KK backs were under constant pressure as Cork's half-back line cleaned us out. With this endless supply of ball B Corcoran managed two points. Hardly "dominated".

That word would be better used to describe what Hickey did in 06 as he kept cork's talisman tucked away in his pocket for the 70 mins.

Brian Corcoran was outstanding in the 99 all ireland final and he got man of the match.In 2004 he got Corks opening point from play which fired the team into action and he got the closing point.Noel Hickey had to be moved off him that day.Brian Corcoran dominated Eamonn Morrisey in 92,he dominated John Power in 99 and Noel Hickey in 04 without resorting to a dirty belt.;)As for 06 King Brian is allowed have one bad day against Kilkenny.:)Nice try but the greatness of Brian Corcoran can never be cheapened.

BQQ

Straight Talker wrote: »

Brian Corcoran was outstanding in the 99 all ireland final and he got man of the match.In 2004 he got Corks opening point from play which fired the team into action and he got the closing point.Noel Hickey had to be moved off him that day.Brian Corcoran dominated Eamonn Morrisey in 92,he dominated John Power in 99 and Noel Hickey in 04 without resorting to a dirty belt.;)As for 06 King Brian is allowed have one bad day against Kilkenny.:)Nice try but the greatness of Brian Corcoran can never be cheapened.

His record against KK is not as great as you seem to think.
He lost the finals of 92 and 06 as well as losing 2 minor all irelands to the cats. A record of 2 out of 6. (He also lost a Harty cup final to St Kierans)

Noel Hickey has a fine record against the rebels though. Wins in 03, 06, 08, 10 and a league final in 02 offset by one minor defeat and the 04 final.

Corcoran also failed as a captain in 93 losing the munster championship they'd won the year before.
And in 2000 he was "Dominated" by your definition of the word by Gary Hannify in the all-ireland semi-final.

Hesh's Umpire

Two letters answer this one for me.

DJ.

The_Kew_Tour

BQQ wrote: »

His record against KK is not as great as you seem to think.
He lost the finals of 92 and 06 as well as losing 2 minor all irelands to the cats. A record of 2 out of 6. (He also lost a Harty cup final to St Kierans)

Noel Hickey has a fine record against the rebels though. Wins in 03, 06, 08, 10 and a league final in 02 offset by one minor defeat and the 04 final.

Corcoran also failed as a captain in 93 losing the munster championship they'd won the year before.
And in 2000 he was "Dominated" by your definition of the word by Gary Hannify in the all-ireland semi-final.

This has be one of worst reasons on why you base a player not to be the greatest or not worthy of a mention.

Either you have very short memory and or have never really seen Brian Corcoran from when he started.

He was the most consistence player I have ever seen and you show up the one match where he played "average" imo(he had produced such high standards) as the reason he did not play great. Really?

On your basis the likes of Eoin Kelly, Joe Canning and Tony Browne, are poor players cause of there record against Kilkenny. That is just downright arrogance and lack of knowledge on what it takes to be great player.

BQQ

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

This has be one of worst reasons on why you base a player not to be the greatest or not worthy of a mention.

Either you have very short memory and or have never really seen Brian Corcoran from when he started.

He was the most consistence player I have ever seen and you show up the one match where he played "average" imo(he had produced such high standards) as the reason he did not play great. Really?

On your basis the likes of Eoin Kelly, Joe Canning and Tony Browne, are poor players cause of there record against Kilkenny. That is just downright arrogance and lack of knowledge on what it takes to be great player.

I was responding to someone who said he had a fine record against KK.
I agree that your record against one particular team is no real way to measure who is the greatest, but he brought it up and I made a comparison with my selection on that basis.

In my opinion, Eoin Kelly, Joe Canning, Tony Browne AND Brian Corcoran are great players, but none of them are the greatest.

corny

Because he hasn't been mentioned yet Brian Whelahan.

premierstone

Best I've seen is Henry Shefflin and its not even close tbh, without question the most intelligent player of he's generation and a gentleman to boot.

From a Tipp perspective its a real toss up between Eoin Kelly and Nicky English, and tbh I can't seperate them, one was a scorer of great goals that no one else could have scored and the other scored some of the most redic points.

Straight Talker

BQQ wrote: »

His record against KK is not as great as you seem to think.
He lost the finals of 92 and 06 as well as losing 2 minor all irelands to the cats. A record of 2 out of 6. (He also lost a Harty cup final to St Kierans)

Noel Hickey has a fine record against the rebels though. Wins in 03, 06, 08, 10 and a league final in 02 offset by one minor defeat and the 04 final.

Corcoran also failed as a captain in 93 losing the munster championship they'd won the year before.
And in 2000 he was "Dominated" by your definition of the word by Gary Hannify in the all-ireland semi-final.

Brians record against Kilkenny at senior level is top class.It was no fault of Brians that Cork lost in 92.He marked Eamon Morrisey out of the game that day.He bossed John Power in 99 and won man of the match in the process.Noel Hickey had to be moved off him in 04 and as for 06 he was playing on a well beaten team that was playing crap ball into the forwards.That sort of ball will always favour a back.A very consistent hurler too was Brian he had to carry a poor Cork team on his back in the mid 90's and those days when he was outhurled by Noel Hickey in 06 and Gary Hannify in 2000 were very rare occasions.I feel blessed to have seen Brian Corcoran hurl!

Diabhal Beag

Henry Shefflin might be the greatest sportsman I've ever seen, nevermind greatest hurler. He is a superb player and despite the odd chat with the ref he is also a great role model for kids

Canning is definitely the best Galway hurler I've seen in my time of watching hurling. Hope to feck that injuries don't blight his future though.

jolatacqce

I'v often wondered how the modern greats would have coped with the heavy leather sliotar that the likes of Ring,Rackard, Doyle,Mackey,just to mention a few,played with,especially on a wet day?

Davin Stand

premierstone wrote: »

Best I've seen is Henry Shefflin and its not even close tbh, without question the most intelligent player of he's generation and a gentleman to boot.

From a Tipp perspective its a real toss up between Eoin Kelly and Nicky English, and tbh I can't seperate them, one was a scorer of great goals that no one else could have scored and the other scored some of the most redic points.

Surely Jimmy Doyle would be worth a mention from any Tipperary poster.

Straight Talker

jolatacqce wrote: »

I'v often wondered how the modern greats would have coped with the heavy leather sliotar that the likes of Ring,Rackard, Doyle,Mackey,just to mention a few,played with,especially on a wet day?

Of all the greats from that era no one ever mentions Waterfords John Keane.He excelled at centre back and centre forward and Ringy thought very highly of him.Of the modern day Waterford players for consistency alone you have to respect Tony Browne.Sadly for Tony a lack of composure from Waterford during key championship matches,bad luck and a lack of a settled full back have all conspired to deny him an all ireland medal.Still though considering that in the pre 98 days when Waterford used to get hammered year after year (they would pull of the odd shock win every now and then) Waterford have been competing at the business end of the championship over the past few years and Tony Big Dan Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn have left youngsters all over Waterford with aspirations that they can achieve what they did and more.That's some legacy to leave behind.

varberg

The names of Christy Ring of cork and Rackard of wexford and Jimmy Doyle of tipp were the greatest of many eras, havent seen much of them play though.

Its probably subjective whoever you pick but here are my top three.

The best defender was probably Brian Whelehan. Top defender, great reading of the game, all the skills. Always dependable and assured. With Birr they won club all irelands, with offaly they won county all irelands.

Forward i would say Eoin Kelly of Tipp. In his prime he scored freely, goals, points from play or frees. Led Mullinahone to a county title even though they were predominately football club up until that time. Carried Tipp too on occasion, when he was the only forward that was top class. Gave some top displays over the years.Scored something like 2.11 or so for tipp v limerick in thurles one year with some incredible scores.Some brilliant goals too over the years.

If i had to go for a third i would say the great Brian Corcoran of Cork. Best of the modern era in that he played superbly in the backs and in the forwards, gifted at hurling and football.Outstanding player.

Others worth a mention would include Ciaran Carey of Limerick, Nicky English of Tipp, Henry Shefflin and DJ Carey of Kilkenny, Joe Cooney and more recently Joe Canning of Galway, Ben o Connor and Joe Deane of Cork, Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn of Waterford.

My top three though are Brian Corcoran throughout his career, Eoin Kelly in his prime and Brian Whelehan who was excellent for club and county.

Bizzum

Brian Whelehan for pure class and the way he dominated big games.

I'm under the impression that the was man of the match in 5 of the 6 All Irelands that he won?

MfMan

Bizzum wrote: »

Brian Whelehan for pure class and the way he dominated big games.

I'm under the impression that the was man of the match in 5 of the 6 All Irelands that he won?

Hard to argue with that. JC would attract a few more votes from those who had seen his display yesterday.

harry21

As a corkman, I'd go with the stats and say Henry. He is not the most skillfull hurler ever (I think Joe will claim that one in time) but his work rate, and influence on the team mark him out as not only one in a generation, but a one off. He has led a team, sucessfully, to 9 all ireland titles, and nearly every final over the last 14 years.

I'm sick now after saying that by the way!

Bizzum

harry21 wrote: »

the most skillfull hurler ever

On this subject, John Troy is hard to beat! Even by Joe!

harry21

Bizzum wrote: »

On this subject, John Troy is hard to beat! Even by Joe!

Skillful and we will be here all day!! Most of the the 'most skillful' hurlers I've ever seen have never even been close to a county team.

deisedude

harry21 wrote: »

As a corkman, I'd go with the stats and say Henry. He is not the most skillfull hurler ever (I think Joe will claim that one in time) but his work rate, and influence on the team mark him out as not only one in a generation, but a one off. He has led a team, sucessfully, to 9 all ireland titles, and nearly every final over the last 14 years.

I'm sick now after saying that by the way!

Seconded. Has to be Henry. Kilkenny without him are a far weaker team.

From a Waterford perspective Ken Mcgrath

ft9

Thread needs a poll. Shefflin, one of the greatest sports man in the world.

Duiske

Davin Stand wrote: »

Surely Jimmy Doyle would be worth a mention from any Tipperary poster.

I mentioned him already, and I'm from Kilkenny. Think he was probably the best ever Tipp player.

dastardly00

Davin Stand wrote: »

Surely Jimmy Doyle would be worth a mention from any Tipperary poster.

Did you see him play?

premierstone

Davin Stand wrote: »

Surely Jimmy Doyle would be worth a mention from any Tipperary poster.

The OP's question was in realtion to players we have seen, so my answer is based on 1987 to the present day.

Joe Canning getting alot of mentions here which I think is bizzare and exteremely premature, in my mind he is not even the best hurler I have seen from he's own family! In time maybe but not just yet.

Kerrydude1981

DJ was probably the best hurler I have seen,he could turn a game on its head in one moment of brilliance,I remember seen him playing against Kerry in the mid 90s in Tralee in a NHL game,Kerry ran them close 3 or 4 points in it,DJ didnt have a great game,I think he only got a point but I remember he made most of the scores for his team mates that day,speed off the mark and his sharp eye for goal set him apart from the rest for me

Ciaran Carey comes a close second,he was a real driving force for that Limerick team,its a pity he never got an All Ireland medal,how can we forget that super point against Clare

Brian Corcoran and Ken Mcgrath are joint third,both whole hearted defenders and skilful and both just as good in the forwards as well,I was at the 04 Munster final in Thurles and I still remember Kens catch towards the end and his point in the first half,inspirational stuff.

Corcoran was also a mighty player very strong and a top class defender who was a great reader of the game and as we saw when he came back he was also a top class forward and he was a great addition to the Cork team who at the time had light lively forwards and he proved a great addition to them.

Joe Cooney,Pat Fox,Nicky English, I thought Tony O Sullivan from Cork was a class act,Brian Lohan,Seanie McMahon,Martin Storey,Brian Whelahan,Johnny Dooley,Paul Flynn and Tony Browne all great players I had the pleasure of watching,all be it against Kerry which usually ended up in an donkeys beating for us most of the time

eigrod

From my own County : Jimmy Barry Murphy
From other County : Henry Shefflin

MfMan

premierstone wrote: »

The OP's question was in realtion to players we have seen, so my answer is based on 1987 to the present day.

Joe Canning getting alot of mentions here which I think is bizzare and exteremely premature, in my mind he is not even the best hurler I have seen from he's own family! In time maybe but not just yet.

Premature maybe, bizarre certainly not. Anyone who's seen him play all through his career to date cannot fail to recognise the different class he so often brings to the games he graces. Ollie was outstanding too though.

glasagusban

The greatest I've ever seen is shefflin. Cannot argue with it what he has achieved in his career already. Helped by playing on the greatest team of all time course.

The best player I've ever seen is Joe canning. No one has the same range of skills as him, fielding, stickwork, frees, sidelines. He has scored goals no one else could score, including the goal in the all Ireland final, and one of the most amazing goals I've ever seen in his debut season in a league semi final in limerick v cork.

My personal pick as favourite and greatest is ciarán Carey. Unfortunately his career at the top was all too short, but at his best the man was an absolute wizard, no one could touch him. His sheer talent was amazing in an era of unbelieveable hurlers, especially from that great Offaly team.

Two more mentions, first ollie canning. Has to be the best corner back ever. Don't think any other player has err been so influential from corner back. Again incomparable stickwork and his covering made him almost like having two players. Last one ken McGrath. An absolute colossus of the game. Magic off the cuff hurling and domination of games, he was a joy to watch.

And those 3 demonstrate that medals won have nothing to do with greatness. There but for the grace off god would go shefflin!

John37

Agree about Ciaran Carey. Was an inspirational figure in Limericks midfield nearly driving them forward to 2 All Ireland titles. His career was blighted by injury though and he certainly deserved at least one All Ireland