Shane McGrath has called for an overhaul to the way the hurling All-Stars are selected, to give players whose teams don't go deep in the All-Ireland series more of a chance.
Waterford and Wexford both bowed out of the championship at the weekend as they failed to progress from the Munster and Leinster round-robins respectively.
Exits for those counties at this stage of the competition mean that star players like Lee Chin and Jamie Barron will see their All-Star hopes diminish and, speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, McGrath claimed that changes are needed to give players like them more of a chance.
The All-Star team and Hurler of the Year nominees are currently voted on at the end of the season by a panel of Gaelic games correspondents across print, radio, TV and digital media. The players then vote for their Hurler of the Year.
"The All-Stars are a long way away but I do feel we could have some kind of a point system for guys to be in with a shout with it," McGrath said.
"What more can you do if your team is out? There's a couple at Waterford - Jamie Barron and Mark Fitzgerald - who couldn’t do much more to win an All-Star.
"Mark Fitzgerald has really announced himself to the wider world. I got to work up close and personal with him in college hurling this year, and he ticks all the boxes.
"I think this guy has potential to be the next Ken McGrath for Waterford, and he showed that to everyone else this year that didn't know much about him.
"And then obviously we've Lee Chin in Wexford as well. I don't know what much more Lee could do.
"I know he wants a team award, we all do, but to be nominated or even to be mentioned in the All-Stars, they're lovely things to get as an individual."
For McGrath, the All-Star team should be made up of the best hurlers in Ireland, no matter who they play for and he feels that a weighted points system could help to pick out players who made a major contribution but saw their team exit early.
"I just think that there’s something they could do down the line, some kind of a points system," he said.
"Realistically, these guys, they're not going get an All-Star now but what more could they do as individual players? Their teams are out now, they did everything they could."
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