What a year it's been for hurling.
2018 was Limerick's year but hurling was the real winner. Because of 2018, hurling is no longer in Gaelic football's shadow.
Where Gaelic football is focused on rule changes to make itself a more enjoyable watch, hurling has never ever been in a better place. The round-robin provincial formats went down a treat in their debut year with the Munster hurling championship ruling the roost for six consecutive weeks through June and into July.
The Leinster championship wasn't far behind it at all. What followed was two All-Ireland semi-final ties for the ages with Clare and Galway serving up one of the greatest games of all time in Croke Park, still tied after extra-time. The following day extra-time was again required for Limerick to put Cork away, as football moved further into the shadows.
And the final, it was just as good again. One of the standout parts about this whole year was that a nine or ten point lead really didn't mean a game was won or lost and that was proven in the final when Joe Canning single-handedly dragged Galway back from the dead.
The Sunday Game panel named their team of the year, and it's hard to have too many arguments with it. Seven Limerick players made it, three Galway, two Clare, two Cork and one Kilkenny man.
Two men who might feel hard-done-by are Aaron Gillane and Seamus Flanagan, but you can't keep everybody happy.
