An eight-county spread represents the cream of the crop that make up the 2026 Champion 15 hurling team of the year.
The star-studded selection acknowledges the standout performers across the Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup competitions. The players will be honoured at a special awards ceremony at Croke Park this Friday night.
Kerry and Ballyduff’s Padraig Boyle is named at full forward in the team.
Christy Ring Cup champions Derry have 6 named.
New York’s second straight piece of silverware after adding the Nickey Rackard to the Meagher Cup won in 2025 is recognised with spots for the rampaging forward AJ Wills and defender and former Tipp footballer Bill Maher.
The Champion 15 team was selected by an independent panel of Gaelic games correspondents with nominations submitted by GPA player repre-sentatives.
Champion 15 Team of the Year 2026
1 Seán Kelly (Derry)
2 Patrick Turner (Derry)
3 Seán Lancaster (Longford)
4 Joe Murray (Leitrim)
5 Bill Maher (New York)
6 Conor Coyle (Derry)
7 Fionn Devlin (Tyrone)
8 Reuben Murray (Longford)
9 Cormac O’Doherty (Derry)
10 AJ Wills (New York)
11 Deaglán Foley (Derry)
12 Cormac Phillips (Mayo)
13 Andrew Kilcullen (Sligo)
14 Pádraig Boyle (Kerry)
15 Shea Cassidy (Derry)
