All-Ireland champions Tipperary and runners-up Kilkenny have claimed more than half of the nominations for the Opel GPA Hurling Team of the Year awards.

And similar to the All-Stars, centre back Conor O'Mahony is the only member of Tipperary's All-Ireland winning team not to receive a nomination.

A total of 45 players have been shortlisted for the Team of the Year, while four players also received nominations for the prestigious Opel GPA Hurler of the Year Award.

The four nominees for the Opel GPA Player of the Year for Hurling, as chosen by the Hurling Selection Committee are: Lar Corbett (Tipperary); Michael Fennelly (Kilkenny); Brendan Maher; (Tipperary) and Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny).

The shortlist for the Opel GPA Hurling Team of the Year includes three players for each position, reflecting the dominant role played by these individual players during the 2010 season.

The list contains players from nine counties including Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork, Waterford, Dublin, Galway, Offaly, Antrim and Clare.

The Opel GPA Hurling Team of the Year shortlist reflects the most successful counties in this year's Championship with All-Ireland champions Tipperary receiving a total of 14 nominations while losing All-Ireland finalists Kilkenny received 12 nominations.

Semi-finalists Waterford and Cork both received six and five nominations respectively while Galway also received five nominations.

The shortlists were drawn up by a selection committee headed up by Chairman Donal O'Grady. The winners will be selected by GPA members. The Opel GPA Player of the Year for Hurling will be announced at the GPA Gala Evening at the City West Hotel on Friday 5 November 2010.

Commenting on the announcement, Chairman of the Hurling Selection Committee, Donal O'Grady said: "The GPA selection committee has put forward what it believes are the three best nominations for the various positions on the 2010 Team of the Year and four nominations for Hurler of the Year.

"However, the GPA scheme gives the player the final say and it is the players themselves who will now make the ultimate choice and select their best 15 and their Player of the Year."

Dessie Farrell, Chief Executive of the Gaelic Players' Association said: "2010 was a historic season for hurling, one which was capped off with another memorable battle between Tipperary and Kilkenny.

"The dominance of these two counties is once again reflected in the nominations. The players will now decide who will be honoured in each position.

"Congratulations to all the nominees, thanks to our selection committee headed by Donal O'Grady and thanks to Opel for their continued support of this unique awards scheme."

Nominees for Opel GPA Hurling Team of the Year 2010:

1: Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) / Gary Maguire (Dublin) / Donal Óg Cusack (Cork)

2: Noel Connors (Waterford) / John Dalton (Kilkenny) / Paddy Stapleton (Tipperary)

3: Eoin Cadogan (Cork) / Paul Curran (Tipperary) / Shane Kavanagh (Galway)

4: Ollie Canning (Galway) / Brian Murphy (Cork) / Jackie Tyrell (Kilkenny)

5: Declan Fanning (Tipperary) / Tony Browne (Waterford) / Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny)

6: Tony Óg Regan (Galway) / Ronan Curran (Cork) / Michael Walsh (Waterford)

7: Declan Prendergast (Waterford)/ Padraic Maher (Tipperary) / JJ Delaney (Kilkenny)

8/9: Michael Fennelly (Kilkenny) / Rory Hannify (Offaly) / Brendan Maher (Tipperary) / Shane McGrath (Tipperary) / Shane O'Sullivan (Waterford) / Michael Rice (Kilkenny)

10: Damien Hayes (Galway) / TJ Reid (Kilkenny) / Gearoid Ryan (Tipperary)

11: Noel McGrath (Tipperary) / Neil McManus (Antrim) / Henry Sheflin (Kilkenny)

12: Lar Corbett (Tipperary) / Eoin Larkin (Kilkenny) / Niall McCarthy (Cork)

13: Eoin Kelly (Tipperary) / Shane Dooley (Offaly) / Darach Honan (Clare)

14: Richie Power (Kilkenny) / Joe Canning (Galway) / Liam Watson (Antrim)

15: John Mullane (Waterford) / Alan McCrabbe (Dublin) / John O'Brien (Tipperary)


Nominees for Opel GPA Player of the Year for Hurling 2010:


Lar Corbett (Tipperary) / Michael Fennelly (Kilkenny) / Brendan Maher (Tipperary) / Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny)


Nominations for other GPA Player of the Year 2010 Awards:


Christy Ring Cup:
Joe Clarke (Westmeath)
Tom Murnane (Kerry)
Jonathan O'Neill (Wicklow)
Paul Branniff (Down)


Nicky Rackard Cup:
Mark Mythen (London)
Paul McCormack (Armagh)


Lory Meagher Cup:
Garret Ghee (Longford)
Mark Patton (Donegal) Tweet

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