Dónal Burke would be consistently winning All-Stars if he wasn't playing for Dublin.
That was the view of Shane McGrath on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, after the Na Fianna clubman played a critical part in saving the Metropolitans' season, helping them to see off Wexford at Croke Park on Saturday evening.
Twice the Dubs stretched their advantage to five points but on both occasions they were reeled in by the Yellowbellies, only for Burke land the final two points and keep their hopes of All-Ireland championship participation alive. He hit a further 11 points before that to maintain his sensational current form in Micheál Donoghue's first season in charge.
Of course Dublin were in the same situation last year, seeing off Wexford by a narrow margin, only to have the Slaneysiders beat Kilkenny on the last day and sneak into third place ahead of them.
But, having only managed a draw against Antrim in Corrigan Park, Dublin realistically had to win to maintain their chances of extending their summer, with Kilkenny and Galway to come in their next two games.
"They pulled it out of the fire and again it's Donal Burke - I just think he's unbelievable," McGrath said.
"Because of who he's playing with, and they might not get to a last four... let's be honest, that's where a lot of points go towards these individual awards at the end of the year.
"He deserves an All-Star. If Dublin get on a run he will be the main man. I thought he was phenomenal again."
Wexford will know that they can still make it into the top three in Leinster, but that it has been taken out of their hands with two defeats from their three games.
They now have to beat Westmeath and, as they did last year, Kilkenny to have a chance of hurling into June.
"Wexford will take solace from what they did against Kilkenny at Nowlan Park last year," McGrath said.
"But they were in a much better place. They had everyone ticking. Wexford are like a club team where you have who you have, and if two or three of those guys go down, you mightn't have the strength in depth to replace them.
"That's what Wexford are. They're a fabulous hurling county with great tradition, but at the moment, even at underage, it just doesn't seem to be happening down there."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
