The vastly improved Jackie Tyrrell at left-corner back?

A no-brainer. Ken McGrath at number six? A shoo-in.

Brick's brawn and Cha's class?

A perfect midfield blend. Up front, the King, the Man, Ollie Moran, Eddie Brennan and Andrew O'Shaughnessy all strolled on. That Tommy Walsh has now won All Stars in five different positions, meanwhile, provides abundant scope for Kama Sutrathemed jokes. For once we'll resist the temptation.

To the two big judgement calls: Brian Murray over Damien Fitzhenry and Tony Browne over Mark Foley. Yes, this would have been as plausible a team with Fitzhenry and Foley there as without them. And yes, Murray erred for Willie Ryan's goal in the third Limerick/Tipp match while Browne suffered in the All Ireland semi-final. But such lapses were deemed insufficient to undo the many good deeds Murray and Browne performed over the season.

Were Fitzhenry and Foley unlucky? Absolutely. Were they robbed? Not remotely.

Declan Fanning was rewarded not only for his poise but his watchfulness; in seven championship matches he coughed up 0-3 to direct opponents from play. While Noel Hickey and Stephen Lucey did well in teams that achieved, Fanning stood out in one that struggled.

If there was an unfortunate Kilkenny man it was not Martin Comerford, whose form nosedived after June, but Eoin Larkin, who in his third year at intercounty level finally caught a tide and surfed it. Yet Stephen Molumphy was Waterford's second-most important attacker, their transmogrification from a pointscoring team into one that banged in goals directly attributable to his ability to palm the bullets for Shanahan et al to fire.

Larkin had a good championship; Molumphy a fine one.

The artificial controversy over the non-recognition for Cork can be rebutted by pointing to their Played 6 Won 2 championship record. By a similar token, Limerick fans nettled with three awards might reflect that, of the county's seven outings, only two were won in normal time.

Finally, a word to such Waterford folk as seem to believe that the allocation of five (deserved) awards validates the theory they're the moral All Ireland champions.

It does nothing of the sort.

2007 Hurling All Stars Brian Murray (Limerick); Michael Kavanagh (Kilkenny), Declan Fanning (Tipperary), Jackie Tyrrell (Kilkenny); Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny), Ken McGrath (Waterford), Tony Browne (Waterford); Michael Walsh (Waterford), James Fitzpatrick (Kilkenny); Dan Shanahan (Waterford), Ollie Moran (Limerick), Stephen Molumphy (Waterford);

Andrew O'Shaughnessy (Limerick), Henry Shef"in (Kilkenny), Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny)