WLR & Granville Hotel GAA Award overall winner for 2022 to be named tonight

Tonight at the Granville Hotel, the overall winner of the WLR/Granville Hotel GAA awards for 2022 will be crowned.

12 winners from last year will be whittled down to find who is the stand-out GAA star of the year.

It was a massive year for GAA in the county with players earning medals in trophies in club, intercounty and college games.

The year began with Ballygunner winning the club hurling All-Ireland in the most dramatic of fashion. A last-gasp goal from Harry Ruddle gave Daragh O'Sullivan's side the bragging rights as the first-ever Waterford club to lift the Tommy Moore Cup.

Billy was the first winner of 2022. His move from wing back to corner forward was a game-changer as the Gunners climbed the steps of the Hogan stand. Billy was to the fore in the All-Ireland semi-final scoring 2-03 against Slaughtneil. He finished the season with 5 goals and 13 points.

In February, with two players standing head and shoulders above the rest, the judging panel could not separate them. Dessie Hutchinson and Michael Kiely shared the award with one showing superb form for his club, and the other nailing game-winning goals for his college.

Dessie was man of the match for Ballygunner in the All-Ireland final. The All-Star nominee netted a crucial second-half goal on the day and finished his afternoon in Croke Park with 1-03.

Kiely meanwhile had a month like no other. He played seven games in sixteen days, splitting his time between Fitzgibbon Cup for UL, U20 football for Ballinacourty and League hurling for Waterford. His last-second goals against IT Carlow and NUIG proved to make the difference in the Fitzgibbon Cup. With the game in the balance in the semi-final, he struck a 45-metre free to the back of the net to steal the win, only to follow it up two days later in the final when he was the match-winner for UL once again. Kiely also scored the winning goal when playing for Ballinacourty in the U20A football final against Rathgormack, while he also chipped in with a goal against Antrim in the league.

There was no hurler in the country better than Stephen Bennett in March. The Ballysaggart ace was at the peak of his powers throughout the month and over four games in the Allianz League, he notched 8.51 for the Déise. His performance in the league final will long be remembered when he scored a goal for the ages in Semple Stadium. That win against Cork gave Waterford their first silverware since 2015 with a mass pitch invasion on the night in Thurles.

Dungarvan's Patrick Curran was one of the stand-out performers for the county this year in both league and championship. He pitched in with 1.3 from play in the league final versus Cork and two weeks later he would carry his fine form into the Championship where he scored 1.13. Starting at half forward this past year, Curran's scoring really took off with 2.21 put on the board in the league. Curran was named man of the match in the championship opener with Tipperary.

Captain fantastic Lorraine Bray inspired her team to back-to-back Championship wins over Wexford and Tipperary - netting twice against Wexford and following that up with three points against Tipp. The month of May was very good to Bray who lead from the front as Waterford beat old rivals Tipperary for the first time ever at senior level.

One of the key performers for both club and county in 2022, Beth Carton ended her year with a first senior county title as De La Salle beat Gaultier in Carriganore. The now three-time All-Star was immense for Waterford in the championship shooting 2 goals and 45 points. She notched 8 points in the historic win over Tipperary, and would then go on to hit 1.6 in back-to-back games against Clare and Limerick. In the club game, Carton played her first Munster outing for De La Salle with the home side narrowly missing out after extra time at Gracedieu.

In a summer of record-breaking games for Waterford camogie, Niamh Rockett proved her worth as Derek Lyons' team earned their spot in the All-Ireland semi-finals for the first time since 1959. Rockett nailed two goals against Limerick in the quarter-final. Lining out in Croke Park for the semi with Cork, Rockett can now boast appearances at GAA HQ at junior, intermediate and senior levels, having already won junior and intermediate All-Irelands.

August was the month that Tallow secured their place as a senior hurling club for 2023 and it was in no small part thank to the efforts of Tommy Ryan. Playing his 16th season of senior hurling, Ryan ended the championship as top scorer, putting 2 goals and 47 points on the scoreboards. In his 16 years of service to Tallow, Ryan has played in two county finals. Despite his high scoring, Tallow found themselves in the relegation play-off with Dunhill but once again Ryan stood tall to score nine points on their way to a crucial win.

One of, if not the best goalkeepers in the country, Stephen O' Keefe had a performance for the history books in the county final win over Mount Sion. Four superb saves on the day helped the Gunners march on to claim a ninth consecutive county title to equal the long-standing records of both Sion and Erin's Own. One of his saves - which have now become the norm for O' Keefe - saw him deny county sharpshooter Austin Gleeson from the penalty spot. Stephen joins his brother Billy on the monthly awards winners list.

If 2022 was the year when Waterford Camogie made a breakthrough to join the top teams in the country, then it was a year when Keeley Corbett Barry announced herself to the GAA community at large. She was a crucial part of the county side who played in the All-Ireland semi-final and would bring that form forward to her club endeavors. De La Salle fought tooth and nail with Gaultier at Carriganore in the county final, with Salle emerging victorious to earn their first-ever senior county title. Barry shot a point of pure class that day when she burst from her own half to send the sliotar between the sticks, turning the flow of the game. The Rathgortmack native earned the player of the match that day and would go on to represent her county and club in the Munster club championship semi-final, playing Drom & Inch at Graecedieu.

While it may have taken over two decades, the wait made it all the sweeter when Ballymacarbry beat The Banner to claim the Munster club football title in Mallow. Sinead Kenrick was the top scorer for Ballymac that day, kicking four points of the total eight. Kenrick was in the thick of the celebrations after the final whistle as she, and her sisters lifted the cup with their father's name branded on the front. The Munster success was the moment that everybody in Ballymac had been waiting for, but earlier in the year there was further success when the club from the Nire Valley notched a 41st consecutive county title, beating Comeragh Rangers.