Nominees Revealed For Connacht Player Of The Year
The nominations for this year’s Connacht Player of the Year have been announced today. The province’s annual Awards Dinner will be held this Saturday night at the Connemara Coast Hotel.
The prestigious Player of the Year honour is awarded by the Connacht coaching team to the player who has performed to the highest of their ability over the course of the entire season.
Last year Michael Swift claimed the coveted award and after another impressive season he finds himself back on the nominations list again.
Swift is joined by three other players who have had equally stand-out seasons – Mike McCarthy, John Muldoon and Tiernan O’Halloran.
The four nominees for the Player of the Year award have all been recipients of the Connacht Player of the Month award in association with Hartmanns of Galway, for their outstanding achievements throughout the year.
Young winger O’Halloran has scored five tries in the RaboDirect PRO12 and added two more in the Heineken Cup, making him the province’s top try scorer this season.
Muldoon has picked up four man-of-the-match awards so far, while McCarthy made his RBS 6 Nations debut for Ireland during this year’s Championship.
Veteran second row Swift continues to add to his record-breaking tally of caps and remains the player with the most appearances for Connacht in the province’s history.
While the Player of the Year award may be one of the most prestigious awards handed out, the induction of Eamonn McGuire into the Hall of Fame will be the pinnacle of the evening.
As well as representing Connacht on over 20 occasions, McGuire was part of the Ireland team that came very close to beating the All Blacks in 1963 and went on to record a famous victory over England at Twickenham the following year.
For a full list of the award categories, please click here.
Tickets for the black-tie ball cost just €;85 and can be purchased from the Connacht Rugby Offices on College Road, Galway, or by emailing Fiona Keys at fiona@cbirfu.com.