Barring a draw on September 6, Joe Canning will become the top scorer for 2009.  Right now he leads the field on 54 points (3-45).  The highest ranked Kilkenny player is Henry Shefflin on 33 points (1-30) and the highest ranked Tipperary player is Lar Corbett on 25 points (6-7).  If the All-Ireland final ends in a draw, it would give Shefflin a reasonable chance to overhaul Canning  seeing as he has been averaging 11 points a game this year.  The last drawn All-Ireland hurling final was 50 years ago between Waterford and Kilkenny.  However Tipp and Kilkenny drew in League final last May so another one could come to pass……

The top 5 scorers from play and placed balls are:

1. Joe Canning 3-45
2. Eoin Kelly (Waterford) 2-47
3. Alan McCrabbe 1-39
4. Diarmuid Lyng 1-31
5. Henry Shefflin 1-30

If we look at the top 5 most efficient scorers from play and placed balls, then McCrabbe moves to the number 1 spot and Lyng drops out of the top 5 to be replaced by Ben O’Connor:

1. Alan McCrabbe 6.19 mins between point
2. Joe Canning 6.26 mins between point
3. Henry Shefflin 6.36 mins between point
4. Eoin Kelly (Waterford) 6.60 mins between point
5. Ben O’Connor 7.08 mins between point

Ignoring scores from placed balls, the top 5 scorers from play are:

1. Lar Corbett 6-7
2. Niall Healy 5-7
3. John Mullane 1-17
4. Noel McGrath 1-13
5. Seamus Callinan 3-7

Corbett is 9 points ahead of team mates Callinan and McGrath.  The highest placed Kilkenny player is Shefflin on 1-9.  So similar to Canning, Corbett looks poised to be top scorer from play in 2009.

If we look at scoring efficiency from play the top 5:

1. Lar Corbett 11.08 mins between point
2. Niall Healy 14.32 mins between point
3. Shane Dooley 15.30 minutes between point
4. Seamus Callinan 16.92 minutes between point
5. Noel McGrath 17.06 minutes between point

Mullane drops out the top 5 to be replaced by Shane Dooley.