IT'S too early to say, as that much-quoted Chinese fella would put it were he asked to supply a progress report on the Tribune's All Star team of 2010 that first saw the light of day here 12 months ago.

Too early for ex cathedra pronouncements to the effect that the boys who've done well to date will inevitably and automatically be the boys of summer in four years' time.

Too early to assert that the boys who haven't done so well to date are in danger of veering off course and may, equally inevitably and automatically, never be heard of again. Frankly, that way madness - or at any rate downright stupidity - lies.

Yet the dangers remain obvious, one danger above all. Burnout. "The number of matches these lads will play between now and 2010 is frightening, " Liam Sheedy, Tipperary's All Ireland minor-winning coach this year, points out. It might not necessarily be that less is more, Dave Billings of UCD adds, "but it's certainly about doing things well in training, doing them properly and not overdoing them". Billings, at the coalface in Belfield, knows whereof he speaks. Don't get him started about the numerous burdens that have been placed on Tom�?s Brady, the centre-back on our team.

Brady is one young man who for various reasons didn't quite train on in 2006.

Colin and Eoin Ryan, Ray McLoughney and Des Mythen are others. It happens. But it doesn't mean they won't recover their best form in 2007.

We did think about shaking up last year's XV. There was a temptation to bring in Cork's Cian O'Connor. There was a temptation to bring in Offaly's find of the year, tyro full-forward Joe Bergin.

There was a distinct temptation to bring in James Woodlock, a midfield dynamo for Tipperary in the drawn All Ireland under-21 final. And there was an even bigger temptation to bring in TJ Reid, who helped save the day for Kilkenny the same afternoon and who hit five points against Birr in Ballyhale Shamrocks' recent Leinster title triumph.

Ultimately, however, justice and plain old common sense demanded that we let the hare sit. But here's the thing. The milk-of-humankindness routine ends now.

Come back this time next year to discover any underachievers and we will, like the teacher in The Breakfast Club, be "crackin' skulls". Gentlemen, you have been warned.

1ADRIAN POWER (Waterford) Club Ballyduff Upper Age in 2010 22 Didn't receive the same level of exposure as he did last year when winning west Waterford medals at minor, under21 and intermediate level, county intermediate honours and tasting All Ireland vocational schools' success with Cork. But his form didn't suffer at any stage, he was county minor goalkeeper, his puckout is as booming as ever and now he's in college in WIT, where he's minding the net for the freshers. One couldn't think of an institution more conducive to helping him reach the next level.

2JOHN WALSH (Laois) Club Ballinakill Age in 2010 25 Remains on course for bigger things following a highly satisfactory season. Was Man of the Match at full-back in the Laois under-21 final in which a combined Ballinakill/Harps team defeated Camross and followed up by winning a senior B medal with his club.

Currently part of the Laois training panel under new manager Damien Fox. We'll be disappointed if we don't see him at corner-back for a couple of National League games.

3PAUL CLEARY (Offaly) Club Birr Age in 2010 24 Fine player whose progress will not be helped by his county's decline. Lacks nothing in ability or size, is sound in the air, possesses a good clearance off both sides and is blessed with more than adequate pace for a big man. But was discomfited by Limerick's Brian Begley in the All Ireland qualifier in Tullamore and also by Joe Brady in the drawn county final before getting the better of Brady in the replay. Certainly lost no brownie points in Birr's defeat in the Leinster club decider last month. Priority for 2007 must be to demonstrate leadership qualities.

4MICHAEL FENNELLY (Kilkenny) Club Ballyhale Shamrocks Age in 2010 25 Hasn't yet grown into the centre-back spot for his county, and with John Tennyson and Tommy Walsh ahead of him in the queue may take time to even make the half-back line.

But showed his worth at midfield when leading Kilkenny to All Ireland under-21 success in September and his club will be relying on him for more of the same when they face Toomevara in the All Ireland semi-final in February.

Arguably won't truly come into his own till his mid-20s.

5SHANE O'NEILL (Cork) Club Bishopstown Age in 2010 24 On the verge of a breakthrough. Held his own off Broadway during the National League and enjoyed a fine season with his club, who captured both the Cork premier intermediate and under-21 titles. Bound to be given an opportunity by Gerald McCarthy to show his wares next spring. Only cloud on the horizon is the continued presence of John Gardiner on the premises.

6TOMءS BRADY (Dublin) Club Na Fianna Age in 2010 23 Vice-captain last year as Dublin carried off their first Leinster minor title since 1983, Brady impressed as a fresher with UCD but has of late been feeling the effects of serving too many masters, so much so that the powers in Belfield took a conscious decision to rest him in recent months. Will be on their Fitzgibbon Cup panel and with sufficient hurling under his belt is likely to make the starting XV.

7MICHAEL RICE (Kilkenny) Club Carrickshock Age in 2010 27 Was that paradox in 2006, an unlucky Cat. Enjoyed a fine league campaign at wing-forward, where his thoughtful use of the ball meshed perfectly with Kilkenny's new, more cerebral approach, but missed the final of the competition through illness and thereafter was struggling for his place. Predictably all at sea when sited out of position at right-corner forward in the All Ireland semi-final and duly paid the penalty, losing out to his clubmate Richie Power for the final.

8BRENDAN MAHER (Tipperary) Club Borris-Ileigh Age in 2010 21 A hit, a palpable hit. So good in so many positions that the Tipp minor selectors were content to decide on a matchby-match basis where to deploy him. For the All Ireland final it was at left-corner back, partly because they wanted to have a reliable man in Joe Canning's bailiwick for any potential emergency-services purposes. Formidable in the air, Maher made some fantastic catches early in the game and handsomely demonstrated why he's probably at his best when coming to the ball. Minor again in 2007, when he'll surely wear the number six jersey.

9CATHAL NAUGHTON (Cork) Club Newtownshandrum Age in 2010 23 All Ireland semi-final day.

Fifty-six minutes elapsed.

Waterford 1-11 Cork 0-12.

Enter Naughton for Neil Ronan. With his first touch he kills a greasy ball stonedead, trots a few steps out and knifes it left-handed between the Canal End uprights from an angled 40 metres. Ninety seconds later he takes a pass from Joe Deane, keeps his calm and slips the sliotar to the net.

Cork are on course for a fourth successive All Ireland final appearance. No member of our team has done us prouder in the last 12 months.

10COLIN RYAN (Clare) Club Newmarket on Fergus Age in 2010 22 Former starlet with St Flannan's now in his second year in college in Galway. Was eligible again for minor this season but went down with a sinking Clare ship before showing bits and bobs of his old form in Newmarket's run to the county final. Bearing in mind his youth, it's far too early to even dream of worrying about his progress;

Ryan does have three years ahead of him at under-21 level, after all.

11JOE CANNING (Galway) Club Portumna Age in 2010 22 Made more headlines this past year than anyone else on our team, not all of them - through no fault of his own - for the right reasons. But enjoyed a couple of red-letter days, the first of them when hitting 1-6 of Portumna's 2-8 at Croke Park on 17 March.

Then lit up the sky on an overcast August evening in Tullamore where, introduced as a 21st-minute sub in the All Ireland under-21 semi-final against Kilkenny, he proceeded to score 2-4, 2-2 of it from play. The goals were crackers in very different ways, one of the points was a beauty from the wing and another issued from a lineball. That Canning didn't win a third successive All Ireland minor medal was, in these eyes, merely an afterthought.

12 RAY McLOUGHNEY (Tipperary) Club Kilruane McDonaghs Age in 2010 23 A mix of the good and the not quite so good. Tipp's 2005 minor captain shone for his club, never more so when almost single-handedly turning the county under-21 semifinal against Thurles Sarsfields; Kilruane trailed by seven points at one stage before McLoughney's 1-10 helped them to victory and, ultimately, county silverware.

But was less prominent in the blue and gold, being taken off in the drawn All Ireland under-21 final and dropped for the replay. Almost certainly a better defender than a forward.

13KERILL WADE (Galway) Club Sars"elds Age in 2010 24 Scorer of the winning point in last year's All Ireland under21 final in his first season out of minor, he didn't make the progress we'd hoped for 12 months ago and was never a factor in the Galway/Kilkenny rematch in Tullamore - but had a valid excuse, having damaged a bone in his hand while on duty with the seniors some time earlier and been out of action for a spell as a result. One trusts his luck will be better in 2007.

14EOIN RYAN (Limerick) Club Kilmallock Age in 2010 23 Natural scorer who hit a total of 4-40 in Limerick's run to the 2005 All Ireland minor decider. With the under-21s departing the scene early this season, he didn't get the opportunity to show his wares for any length of time and his misfortune was compounded by a shoulder injury which forced him to miss much of the domestic under21 campaign. Did at least return in time to feature in Kilmallock's victory in the final.

15DES MYTHEN (Wexford) Club Oulart the Ballagh Age in 2010 27 A still-born season due to injury. In contrast to 2005, where he created a neat goal for himself in the Leinster final and was one of very few Wexford men to emerge with credit from the All Ireland quarter-final mauling by Clare, hitting 0-3 from play, Mythen was unable to start any of his county's championship fixtures last summer, though he did come on in the All Ireland quarter-final and land two sadly irrelevant points. But we still love him.