Rian O'Neill's exclusion from 2022 GAA All-Stars the…

Rian O'Neill's exclusion from 2022 GAA All-Stars the main complaint from some supporters

Thursday morning brought with it the release of the 2022 Gaelic football All-Stars ahead of Friday night's glitzy bash where the hurling team will be released.

There were 11 first-time recipients on this year's selection as Galway and in particular Derry brought a lot of freshness to this year's Championship as they won their respective provincial titles.

All-Ireland champions Kerry also had four first-timers among their ranks in goalkeeper Shane Ryan and defenders Jason Foley, Tadhg Morley and Gavin White.

The only other county to be reperesented then was Dublin as Ciaran Kilkenny was the sole player from the capital to make the line-up.

The 29-year-old's sixth All-Star, thereby equalling Stephen Cluxton's Dublin record, was the biggest bone of contention among disgruntled fans who felt Armagh ace Rian O'Neill should have pipped him to either that spot or Damien Comer's at 14.

O’Neill slotted a magnificent equaliser against Galway from a long-range free and was superb in the qualifier victory over Donegal as the fulcrum of the Orchard attack.

Taking to Twitter to argue the case for the Crossmaglen man, one person wrote: "He's a class player but Damien Comer got that All-Star on the basis of one really strong performance.

"Rian O'Neill and Shane McGuigan both had a considerably more impressive body of work over the year. Both will feel hard done by, rightly so.

While Adrian added: "Seems about right. Rian O'Neill can feel disappointed. RON for Kilkenny and it would be spot on."

Armagh legend Steven McDonnell felt the same as he tweeted: "No Rían O’Neill in the All-Star team. #GAAallstars #Confused"

The other players who were unfortunate to miss out were Derry’s Brendan Rogers, who had a big shout in defence and midfield, and his fellow Oak Leaf defender Conor McCluskey, the aforementioned McGuigan and Armagh keeper Ethan Rafferty who brought the sweeper keeper trend to new heights.

Kerry’s Tom O’Sullivan was unfortunate too, suffering for a Shane Walsh tour de force in the All-Ireland final, having been a Footballer of the Year candidate going into the decider.

2022 PWC All Stars

1 Shane Ryan, Kerry (first award)

Club: Rathmore Age: 26

2 Christopher McKaigue, Derry (first award)

Club: Slaughtneil Age: 33

3 Jason Foley, Kerry (first award)

Club: Ballydonoghue Age: 25

4 Liam Silke, Galway (first award)

Club: Corofin Age: 27

5 Tadhg Morley, Kerry (first award)

Club: Templenoe Age: 29

6 John Daly, Galway (first award)