Premier Intermediate Team of the Year After Three Rounds: The PremierView Podcast XV
Three rounds are complete.
Twenty-four games have been played.
Sixteen clubs have shown us enough now to move beyond pre-championship reputation and judge players on what they have actually produced in the county championship.
And this is our team.
This is not simply the 15 highest scorers.
It cannot be.
A goalkeeper has to be judged on shot-stopping, puckouts and major interventions. A corner-back’s value can be found in what his opponent does not score. A centre-back has to control the most important area of the pitch. Midfielders have to win ball, create transitions and influence both ends.
Then, when we reach the attack, the numbers become increasingly important.
Overall scoring matters.
Scoring from play matters enormously.
Goals matter.
But so does when those scores arrive.
A point in the 12th minute of a game your team wins by 15 does not carry the same value as the score that rescues a draw in the seventh minute of injury time or the goal that kills a championship comeback.
We have taken all of that into account.
We have also placed major weight on what we have seen at the games.
If we felt a player gave an eight-out-of-ten performance, that is our eight. If we had him at nine, we say nine. We are not outsourcing the judgement.
There are difficult omissions.
There are players from eliminated teams who make it.
There are players from the No. 1-ranked team who do not.
And Moneygall provide four defenders.
That last one may generate the biggest debate.
It shouldn’t.
Moneygall have conceded 49 point-equivalents in three matches, an average of 16.33 per game, and just one goal in 180 minutes.
If four members of that defensive system have been among the outstanding players in their positions, we pick four.
This isn’t about giving every club representation.
It is about selecting the best XV we have seen.
Here it is.
1. Brian Hogan, Lorrha-Dorrha
Goalkeeper
There were three serious candidates here.
Paddy McCormack has been excellent for Moneygall and is the goalkeeper behind the best statistical defence in the championship.
Ronan Tucker has produced some outstanding individual saves for Burgess, particularly in Round 1.
But our No. 1 goes to Brian Hogan.
What separates Hogan is the significance of his interventions.
Against Moneygall, his shot-stopping and puckouts became increasingly influential as Lorrha turned a difficult game in their favour.
Then came Round 3.
Templederry were playing their best hurling of the county championship and repeatedly getting at Lorrha.
Éanna Murray stood over a penalty.
Hogan saved it.
That is not a routine save in a meaningless moment.
Templederry subsequently went six points clear even without converting that penalty.
Had it gone in, Lorrha could have been facing a far bigger deficit.
Hogan made other interventions as Templederry continued to attack the square and we had him at 8/10 for the afternoon.
His puckout gives Lorrha another dimension as well.
When the opposition presses high, he has the distance to go beyond it.
When Lorrha want to work possession, he has enough control to vary the delivery.
Lorrha finished the group stage unbeaten.
Hogan played a significant role in keeping that record intact.
Our verdict: The biggest saves in the biggest moments give Brian Hogan the jersey.
2. Jack Kirwan, Moneygall
Right corner-back
The first member of the Moneygall defence.
There will be more.
Moneygall’s opponents scored:
Templederry: 0-15
Lorrha-Dorrha: 1-21
Burgess: 0-10
That is one goal in 180 minutes.
Jack Kirwan has been central to it.
Corner-back is not a position where we are looking for a scoring statistic.
We are looking for control.
How often is the defender beaten cleanly?
How often does a ball entering the full-forward line turn into a genuine goal chance?
How well does he deal with the second ball?
Can he defend one-on-one without forcing the whole defensive structure to collapse around him?
Kirwan has consistently answered those questions.
Even in Moneygall’s only defeat against Lorrha, we had him at 7/10.
Then came the winner-takes-all game against Burgess.
Burgess had scored 4-22 one round earlier.
David Nealon had been one of the most dangerous forwards in the championship.
Moneygall held the entire team to 0-10.
We had Kirwan at 7/10 again.
He does not need ten possessions to influence a game.
His value lies in denying somebody else ten possessions.
Our verdict: A model of consistency in the tightest defensive unit in the championship.
3. Brendan Tuohy, Moneygall
Full-back
The strongest individual case in the full-back line.
Moneygall have allowed one goal in three county championship games.
At some stage, the full-back has to get a large share of the credit for that.
Tuohy is strong in the central channel.
He does not get dragged around unnecessarily.
He reads where the danger is coming from and, crucially, the players around him trust him.
That matters.
A full-back line looks completely different when the corner-backs know they do not constantly have to collapse towards the square to protect the man in the middle.
We had Tuohy at 7/10 against Lorrha.
We had him at 7/10 again against Burgess.
And the Burgess performance is the one that seals the position.
They arrived with six championship goals already scored.
They left with none on the day.
Nealon scored five frees.
Nothing from play.
Moneygall controlled the area directly in front of their own goal for the entire afternoon.
The team has conceded just 49 point-equivalents, the best defensive total in the championship.
This isn’t theoretical anymore.
Three games is a pattern.
Our verdict: Brendan Tuohy is the full-back at the heart of the best defence in the competition.
4. Roddy Teehan, Moneygall
Left corner-back
We are completing the Moneygall full-back line.
Some people will automatically resist selecting all three.
We don’t.
The numbers are too strong.
The performances back them up.
Teehan has been aggressive without becoming reckless.
He competes for the first ball.
He attacks the breaking ball.
And he has been part of a unit that has rarely required emergency defending because its positioning has generally been right before the ball arrives.
We had him at 7/10 against Lorrha.
We had him at 7/10 against Burgess.
That is the word with this Moneygall full-back line.
Consistency.
There has been no afternoon where the system simply disappeared.
Lorrha are the only team to score a goal against Moneygall.
Nobody else has.
Templederry couldn’t.
Burgess couldn’t.
For a corner-back, that is a serious body of work.
Our verdict: Three rounds of disciplined defensive hurling. Teehan completes our full-back line.
5. Killian Fitzgerald, Lorrha-Dorrha
Right wing-back
Fitzgerald gets this position on the strength of his body of work rather than one eye-catching afternoon.
His Round 1 performance against Burgess was particularly good.
We had him at 8/10.
Lorrha had to solve a genuine problem in that game.
Burgess got on top.
Lorrha had to change the pattern of the contest.
Fitzgerald was one of those who helped wrestle it back.
He followed with another good performance against Moneygall, and Lorrha were again able to come through a tight championship contest.
The Templederry game was less convincing defensively.
We had Fitzgerald at 6/10 there.
That matters too.
A Team of the Year should not pretend every selected player was brilliant every week.
But over the three rounds, his overall contribution is still strong enough.
He competes well aerially, provides a platform for Lorrha’s midfield and can use the ball constructively when he wins it.
That last part matters in this Lorrha system.
They do not want their half-backs simply clearing the ball.
They want possession transferred quickly enough that Eoin McIntyre, Conor Kennedy and the other attacking players receive it before the opposition shape is rebuilt.
Fitzgerald has consistently helped them do that.
Our verdict: Two very strong performances outweigh the more difficult Round 3 afternoon.
6. Séamus Kennedy, St Mary’s
Centre-back
One of the easiest defensive calls.
Séamus Kennedy gets No. 6.
And his Round 3 performance against Thurles Sarsfields tells you exactly why.
We had Kennedy at 8/10.
St Mary’s looked to have the game won.
They were eight points clear.
Then Sarsfields came.
1-03 without reply.
Suddenly the lead was two.
Momentum was entirely with Sars.
This is where the centre-back matters.
Not when everything is comfortable.
When the game starts falling apart.
Kennedy won one of the most important balls of the entire afternoon.
High ball.
Pressure.
Catch.
Clearance.
St Mary’s transitioned immediately.
Peter McGarry eventually ended the move by scoring the goal that settled the game.
That one passage contained much of what Kennedy gives St Mary’s.
Reading of danger.
Aerial ability.
Composure.
Then the quality to turn a defensive intervention into an attacking one.
He also provides positional discipline around a St Mary’s attack that increasingly wants to get bodies forward.
The South champions have now won two games in succession and are directly into the quarter-finals.
Kennedy is their defensive reference point.
Our verdict: The man we would want controlling the centre of the defence when a knockout game starts going against us.
7. Andy Hoolan, Moneygall
Left wing-back
The fourth Moneygall defender.
Again, look at the numbers.
One goal conceded.
Forty-nine point-equivalents.
You don’t produce those figures solely because three players close to goal are defending well.
The protection begins further out.
Andy Hoolan has been an important part of it.
Moneygall’s half-back line does a huge amount of work before the ball reaches Kirwan, Tuohy and Teehan.
They contest.
They force poor deliveries.
They slow down opposition attacks.
They prevent forwards receiving possession while facing goal.
That changes everything.
We had Hoolan at 7/10 in the huge Round 3 win over Burgess.
He also got on the scoreboard.
His ability to contribute going forward without vacating the defensive structure is part of the reason he gets the nod.
Eoin Whyte was extremely close.
So was Tadhg Sheehan of St Mary’s.
But after three rounds, Hoolan’s consistency in the championship’s best defence gets him there.
Our verdict: Four Moneygall defenders looks a lot. Conceding one goal in three games is even more striking.
8. Jack Leamy, Golden-Kilfeacle
Midfield
This is automatic.
And more than that.
Jack Leamy isn’t simply in the Team of the Year.
He is our Player of the Championship after three rounds.
We will come back to that.
His scoring from play is extraordinary.
4-12 from play.
That is 24 point-equivalents without a free.
The next-best total in the supplied from-play table is 15.
That is a gap of nine.
Nine.
From midfield.
That is the statistic which separates Leamy from everybody else.
Golden have scored more than any team in Premier Intermediate.
94 point-equivalents in three games.
They are 3-0.
And Leamy has been the most destructive open-play scorer in the competition.
We had him at 9/10 in Round 1 against Ballina.
He scored 2-06.
He did not simply arrive at the end of moves.
He broke the game open.
Carrying from deeper positions.
Running beyond defenders.
Getting into goal-scoring positions.
Then he was forced off during the Boherlahan game.
Golden still won.
And he returned for Round 3 as they completed the perfect group stage.
The positional aspect makes his contribution even more impressive.
He is not a full-forward waiting for possession within 30 metres of goal.
He is beginning moves and finishing them.
Opposition teams have a genuine problem deciding who should pick him up.
Follow him too far and Golden exploit the space.
Stand off him and he can attack.
Give him room around the scoring zone and the numbers show what happens.
Our verdict: No debate at midfield. And for us, the best player in the grade through the first three county rounds.
9. David Sullivan, Lorrha-Dorrha
Midfield
Leamy provides the explosion.
David Sullivan gives this midfield balance.
Sullivan has been one of the understated players in Lorrha’s unbeaten run.
Round 1 against Burgess was his best performance.
1-02.
We had him at 8/10.
And the context matters.
Lorrha were in a game.
Burgess had got on top.
Sullivan’s contribution was part of the surge that turned the contest.
He followed it with another two points against Moneygall.
Again, no reliance on frees.
No inflated total.
Scores created through involvement in general play.
Sullivan gives Lorrha a physical presence in the middle third, but he is more than a ball-winner.
He can get forward.
He can take a score.
He can cover.
And he provides exactly the kind of support that allows the more attacking Lorrha players to take chances ahead of him.
Tadhg Condon of St Mary’s came very close here.
Aodhán Ryan has been important for Moneygall.
But Sullivan has put together the most persuasive three-round case alongside Leamy.
Our verdict: Not the biggest headline-maker. One of the players we would trust most to give a midfield shape for 60 minutes.
10. Keane Hayes, Gortnahoe-Glengoole
Right wing-forward
An eliminated team’s player makes our attack.
No apology required.
Keane Hayes has scored:
2-09 from play.
Fifteen point-equivalents from live ball.
That is elite output.
His Round 2 performance against Silvermines was one of the best individual attacking displays we saw during the group phase.
We had him at 9/10.
He scored 1-06.
And most of the damage came from play.
That distinction matters.
Hayes forces defenders to make decisions.
He can take possession on the move.
He can break towards goal.
He carries genuine goal threat.
And when a defender sits deeper to protect against the goal, Hayes has enough scoring range to take the point.
He remained one of the drivers of Gortnahoe’s extraordinary attempted comeback against Treacys in Round 3.
We had him at 7/10 despite the defeat.
Gortnahoe going out is a major disappointment.
It does not change what Hayes produced individually.
Eoghan Doughan was extremely close.
Colm Fogarty was extremely close.
Seán Kenneally was extremely close.
But when we strip out frees and ask who has consistently hurt defences while the ball is live, Hayes belongs in the conversation immediately.
Our verdict: One of the most dangerous open-play forwards in the championship, regardless of Gortnahoe’s elimination.
11. Ben Currivan, Golden-Kilfeacle
Centre-forward
If Golden’s attack is the most frightening in the championship, Currivan is its constant.
His overall championship total is:
1-33.
Thirty-six point-equivalents.
And importantly, he has also produced 1-10 from play.
That combination matters.
There are players high on the overall scoring chart because they take virtually every free.
Currivan is high on both lists.
He hurts teams from dead balls.
He hurts teams from play.
We had him at 9/10 against Ballina in Round 1.
Golden scored 3-23.
Currivan was everywhere.
Then came Round 2.
Jack Leamy was forced off.
That was the test.
Could Golden maintain their attacking level without the player who had caused so much destruction in Round 1?
Currivan took responsibility.
Golden scored 2-22 and won again.
Round 3?
Another significant contribution as Golden beat Éire Óg 3-25 to 1-25.
Three games.
Three wins.
Golden have scored 94.
Nobody has scored more.
Currivan provides them with both a scoring floor and a scoring ceiling.
Even on an afternoon where everything else is not working, his frees keep Golden alive.
When the attack is functioning, his work from play adds another layer.
Our verdict: The most reliable attacking constant in the highest-scoring team.
12. Jason Forde, Silvermines
Left wing-forward
Silvermines have not won a county championship group game.
Jason Forde still has to be selected.
His total is:
3-31.
Forty point-equivalents.
The highest overall scoring figure in the championship.
And he has scored 3-05 from play.
Fourteen point-equivalents without relying on placed balls.
That is the part of his championship that should not be overlooked.
Because everyone knows what Forde does from frees.
Everyone knows giving Silvermines a free inside range is dangerous.
Yet he has also scored three goals from play and remained among the leading open-play scorers in the entire grade.
Round after round, opposition defences have constructed their plans around him.
And he keeps scoring.
Against Moyne, we had him at 9/10.
Silvermines came extremely close to winning the game.
Forde was again central.
The issue for Silvermines is dependence.
They have scored 68 point-equivalents.
Forde has scored 40 of them.
That is an enormous share.
For Silvermines, that is a warning.
For Forde’s individual Team of the Year case, it strengthens the argument.
He is carrying an extraordinary load despite every opponent knowing exactly where the primary threat is.
Our verdict: The championship’s leading overall scorer. Leaving him out would be indefensible.
13. Paddy Carey, Seán Treacys
Right corner-forward
Carey has generally operated more centrally, but we are comfortable moving him within the inside line to get the best six forwards onto the team.
The numbers make the selection.
1-33.
Thirty-six point-equivalents.
Joint second on the overall scoring table alongside Ben Currivan.
Carey also has 1-07 from play.
Ten point-equivalents.
That gives important context to the overall total.
Yes, he is an outstanding free-taker.
He is also contributing while the ball is alive.
Treacys have been one of the great contradictions of this championship.
They scored 84.
They conceded 90.
Their games have been chaos.
Carey is the one consistent scoring reference point within all of it.
Round 3 was interesting because Treacys finally did not have to ask him to do everything.
We had him at 7/10.
Cillian Kennedy produced the decisive goal.
Mikey Feehan contributed.
Brian Carey contributed.
Pat Deegan contributed.
James Butler contributed.
That makes Carey even more dangerous going forward.
When an opposition defence can send all its attention towards him, Treacys become predictable.
When the others score, Carey becomes much more difficult to manage.
Our verdict: Thirty-six point-equivalents across three rounds is impossible to ignore.
14. Gearóid O’Connor, Moyne-Templetuohy
Full-forward
He played two county group games.
He still makes the team.
That tells you everything.
His cumulative championship total is:
1-21.
Twenty-four point-equivalents.
His from-play return is 1-10, 13 point-equivalents.
And he produced that despite missing Round 1.
The impact on Moyne has been enormous.
They drew with Gortnahoe without him.
Then he returned.
Moyne scored 3-26 against Seán Treacys.
O’Connor immediately gave them another type of attacker.
He can win possession deeper.
Carry through the middle.
Create for others.
Then arrive inside the scoring zone.
He changes the shape of an opposition defence.
Round 3 strengthened his case further.
Moyne were five points down against Silvermines with four minutes remaining.
O’Connor drove the comeback.
Then Silvermines appeared to win it in injury time.
Moyne needed one more possession.
O’Connor won it.
Won the free.
Converted.
Unbeaten record preserved.
Group won.
We had him at 9/10.
That is exactly the type of performance we value heavily.
Scoring totals matter.
Clutch scores matter more.
The next stage is now fascinating.
Moyne have an attacking group containing O’Connor, Conor Bowe, Finn Jones and Cormac Deegan.
O’Connor is the piece that changes the geometry of the whole thing.
Our verdict: Two appearances were enough. Few players have altered their team’s championship more dramatically.
15. Peter McGarry, St Mary’s
Left corner-forward
The form player of the championship.
McGarry’s total is:
2-23.
Twenty-nine point-equivalents.
Thirteen point-equivalents from play, 2-07.
That combination puts him straight into the elite forward conversation.
His Round 3 performance against Thurles Sarsfields seals his selection.
2-09.
We had him at 9/10.
It wasn’t only the volume.
It was when the goals came.
The first gave St Mary’s separation before half-time.
The second ended the game.
Sarsfields had been eight down.
They came roaring back.
The gap was two.
St Mary’s were wobbling.
Séamus Kennedy won the critical possession.
McGarry got the chance.
He finished it.
That is exactly what we want from a corner-forward.
No hesitation.
No attempt simply to protect the lead.
See goal.
Take goal.
Game over.
His rise has mirrored St Mary’s.
Round 1 was disappointing.
Round 2 was dramatically better.
Round 3 confirmed that the improvement was real.
St Mary’s are now directly into the quarter-finals.
McGarry is a huge reason why.
Our verdict: Two goals in the game that mattered most complete one of the strongest attacking cases in the championship.
The Premier View Premier Intermediate XV After Round 3
1. Brian Hogan, Lorrha-Dorrha
2. Jack Kirwan, Moneygall
3. Brendan Tuohy, Moneygall
4. Roddy Teehan, Moneygall
5. Killian Fitzgerald, Lorrha-Dorrha
6. Séamus Kennedy, St Mary’s
7. Andy Hoolan, Moneygall
8. Jack Leamy, Golden-Kilfeacle
9. David Sullivan, Lorrha-Dorrha
10. Keane Hayes, Gortnahoe-Glengoole
11. Ben Currivan, Golden-Kilfeacle
12. Jason Forde, Silvermines
13. Paddy Carey, Seán Treacys
14. Gearóid O’Connor, Moyne-Templetuohy
15. Peter McGarry, St Mary’s
Premier Intermediate Player of the Championship After Three Rounds
Jack Leamy, Golden-Kilfeacle
There were four names at the heart of this discussion.
Jason Forde.
Ben Currivan.
Brendan Tuohy.
Jack Leamy.
Forde has the biggest overall scoring number.
3-31.
Forty point-equivalents.
Currivan has 1-33, is one of the central figures in the championship’s best attack and has been a model of consistency.
Tuohy is the full-back at the heart of a Moneygall defence that has conceded just one goal.
All three have legitimate cases.
But for us, the best player in the Premier Intermediate Championship after three rounds is Jack Leamy.
And the number that pushes him clear is:
4-12 from play.
Twenty-four point-equivalents.
No frees.
The next players on the supplied from-play table, Keane Hayes and Conor Bowe, have 15 point-equivalents.
Leamy is nine clear.
That is an enormous gap after three rounds.
Then add the context.
Golden-Kilfeacle have gone:
Played 3.
Won 3.
They have scored:
94 point-equivalents.
The best attacking total in the championship.
Leamy is doing this from midfield.
That is what ultimately separates him for us.
A full-forward can generate enormous scoring numbers.
Leamy is influencing games from significantly further out.
He wins possession.
Carries.
Breaks lines.
Creates space.
Then still arrives in areas where he can score goals.
We had him at 9/10 in Round 1.
His 2-06 against Ballina was one of the most destructive performances of the championship.
He then suffered the injury against Boherlahan, yet still returned to contribute as Golden completed the perfect group campaign against Éire Óg.
And there is something else.
Opposition managers now have to design part of their entire defensive structure around where Leamy goes.
That is perhaps the greatest compliment available to a player.
If a midfielder follows him, Golden can exploit the space.
If a defender steps out, somebody else becomes free.
If the opposition allows him to move naturally, the scoring data tells us exactly what happens.
4-12 from play.
Nobody else has matched that level of live-ball scoring production.
So after three rounds:
The Premier View Premier Intermediate Player of the Championship is Jack Leamy of Golden-Kilfeacle.
Not because he is the championship’s leading scorer.
He isn’t.
Because when we combine the numbers, the position he plays, the quality of his scores, his influence on the highest-scoring attack and what we have seen from him across the group phase, he has been the most damaging player in the competition.
For now, he is the man everybody else is chasing.