Joe Canning requires a haul of 0-08 or more from Saturday's qualifier encounter against Waterford to overtake Henry Shefflin as the all-time top scorer in the history of the hurling championship.
Shefflin currently sits atop the all-time scorer charts with a total of 27-484 (565) points over 71 games across 16 seasons between 1999 and 2014.
The Galway attacker lies on 27-477 (558) in 60 matches since his debut in 2008. (Stats courtesy of Leo McGough of @FHurlers).
Canning lay just 13 points shy of Shefflin ahead of this year's championship but a substandard day from placed balls against Dublin saw him fall well short of the target, registering just six points as Galway exited Leinster in bizarrely limp fashion.
Remarkably, the Portumna attacker's highest individual scoring tally in the championship remains his stunning championship debut against Cork in 2008, when he scored 2-12 (much of it from play) of Galway's entire tally of 2-15 in their qualifier loss in Semple Stadium. He did subsequently equal this haul with 1-15 against Laois in 2015.
Canning holds five All-Stars overall (2008, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2018), scooping the Hurler of the Year award when Galway won the All-Ireland in 2017 - though in the opinion of many observers, his form was even stronger in 2018, when Galway fell short against Limerick in their quest for back-to-back titles.
Elsewhere, Cork's Pat Horgan, who sits third in the all-time list behind Shefflin and Canning, requires just a single point against Clare on Saturday afternoon to reach the 500-point mark in championship.
Horgan currently sits on 22-433 (499) over the course of his career. It was anticipated he would surpass the 500-mark against Limerick but a below par performance in front of goal saw him fall one short. He will almost certainly join the very exclusive 500 club on Saturday.
