A PwC Camogie All-Star always comes as a rich reward at the end of a standout season of individual brilliance.
The All-Ireland winners typically dominate the selection and it's likely to be the same in 2023 with Cork primed to pick up as many as eight spots on the team of the year.
Yet back on the first weekend of June, it looked like this was a conversation Matthew Twomey's side may not even be a part of.
Cork's three-point loss to Galway in Round 1 of the Championship was the team's fourth consecutive defeat across three different competitions and left them scrambling to rescue their season.
As much as PwC Camogie Senior Player of the Year nominee Amy O'Connor claimed after Cork's eventual All-Ireland final win over Waterford - a game in which the team captain scored a remarkable hat-trick and 3-07 in total - that they never panicked, it was still a challenge of Everest proportions.
For starters, Cork had to play an All-Ireland quarter-final while group winners Waterford and Galway advanced straight to the championship's last four.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise that Cork had to play Kilkenny in a quarter-final though because their gutsy one-point win provided them with a springboard to success. They bounded on to the sweetest of semi-final wins over Galway before hitting Waterford for 5-13 in the Croke Park final. A 29th All-Ireland win was Cork's, their first since 2018. Few can say they saw it coming.
O'Connor was a metronome in attack, leading by the excellence of her example with 4-20 scored in the knock-out stages alone. In the final, her 10 scores came from 10 scoring opportunities. A 100% rate of efficiency on camogie's grandest day.
Her colleague, Saoirse McCarthy, a ball of craft all summer at midfield, and Waterford's totemic centre-forward Beth Carton, are the two other Senior Player of the Year nominees but O'Connor's credentials appear overwhelming.
McCarthy was terrific as a speedy, attack-minded midfielder, particularly against Galway in the semi-final. Her forward bursts always seemed to end with a precise piece of distribution or her own score. Aoife Donoghue of Galway made a pressing claim for the second PwC Camogie midfield All-Star.
Truth be told, you could argue that all 11 of Cork's nominees deserve PwC Camogie All-Stars. Our gut suggests that eight may ultimately be rewarded; goalkeeper Amy Lee, defenders Pamela Mackey, Meabh Cahalane and the brilliant Laura Treacy, McCarthy at midfield along with Katrina Mackey, Sorcha McCartan and O'Connor up front.
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Should Libby Coppinger be in there too? Perhaps. But Róisín Black was a rock at the back for Galway. So was Tipperary's Mairead Eviston, a Munster final winner. We've reserved a defensive berth for Vikki Falconer who had done enough to secure her place before coming off injured early in the final .
O'Connor finished off Waterford in the early August decider with her remarkable hat-trick between the 33rd and 35th minutes. McCartan, the former Down forward who mixes silk with steel up front for Cork, and Katrina Mackey could get All-Stars too.
Waterford's Beth Carton and Cáit Devane of Tipperary are no-brainers for inclusion and we've rounded off the attack with Kilkenny's Denise Gaule. Even in a frustrating year for Kilkenny, Gaule sparkled. We await the official team announcement at the November 4 awards ceremony in Croke Park with interest.
