As Hurler of the Year Diarmaid Byrnes is now in exclusive company, but even more so given how rare it is that defenders scoop these awards.
The Limerick wing-back is the first defender to win the prize since Kilkenny’s Tommy Walsh back in 2009 and the list of backs to have achieved it is one of all-time greats, with the likes of Brian Whelahan, Seanie McMahon, Brian Corcoran, JJ Delaney and Sean Og O hAilpin just a few of them.
“They're all people I would have admired growing up,” said Byrnes. “I wouldn't be mad into looking back on stuff, but Tommy Walsh is someone I would have looked at clips of.
READ MORE: Limerick scoop seven PwC All Stars as hurling team of the year named
“So, it really is special to be in that category now. It's nice for the backs, I suppose, that we have one again.
“Barry Nash was nominated too and he had a phenomenal year with Limerick. If he was sitting here I'd be equally as happy for him. And he'd be deserving of it also because he was so good all year.”
While nobody wins the sport’s most prestigious individual honour without having a finely tuned all-round game, the quality of the Patrickswell man’s striking is probably what sets him apart.
Across seven Championship games this year he scored 0-36, 0-30 of them from long-distance placed balls.
“It is something I've worked hard at, especially the frees,” he explains.
“Against Clare I scored eight from eight and I got one from play. It's something I have put an emphasis on because they're so important.
“You don't know what situation you're going to be given. Whether it's to break the momentum of a match, put us up by one point, or three points to give us a bit of breathing space.
“The scores from play, I'm very fortunate that the lads around me know my game very well and I know their game be it Gearoid (Hegarty) outside me or Darragh (O'Donovan) inside me, they know my runs and my ins and outs.
“I suppose there’s an understanding there as well. A lot of those scores came from other individuals, it's just my responsibility to take the free.
“I would practise in literally every corner of the field. I've had my routine locked in for the last three or four years now. It's something that has stood to me. I've had bad days, a few of them.
“This year I was very fortunate to have so many good days. I've no doubt the free-taking is one of the reasons I'm here today.”
Byrnes’ selection on the All Star team was a formality and it brought him his third award at right half-back, level with his clubmate Ciaran Carey but still one behind another in Gary Kirby.
That fact that the current Limerick team has supplemented individual honours with All-Irelands, which eluded the ‘90s team, isn’t lost on him.
“It's something we don't take for granted. As individuals you want to achieve as much as you can because we sacrifice so much time. At the end of the day you want to achieve as much as you can with your team if you're making the sacrifices that we are making. As a team it's important to achieve what you can achieve while you're there.
“The last couple of years have been just incredible. You always hear lads talking about how they were there in '94 and '96. And even now as I get older and having won one, I would have been so happy for those lads to win it back in the ‘90s.
“I look at men like Ciaran Carey, Gary Kirby, Barry Foley in our club. To see the success we've had and the enjoyment that we have gotten out of it, I would be so happy to be able to give them just one of mine. They were so close in their time.
“Because of situations like that, we have learned to be so grateful for what we have. It's nothing we'll be taking for granted going into next season. Three-in-a-row, fantastic.
“But, come January, it's time to knuckle down and it'll be every man for himself and just tear into the season and be the best you can for the team.”
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