I was asked on Twitter today whether John Mullane is close to becoming the all-time top scorer from play in championship hurling. Unfortunately I don’t have all the records to answer that question definitively. What I can say is the Mullane is the top scorer from play since 2004. The top 20 scorers from play for the past 8 championship seasons are:

1. 145 points John Mullane Waterford
2. 130 points Lar Corbett Tipperary
3. 122 points Eoin Kelly Tipperary
4. 122 points Henry Shefflin Kilkenny
5. 119 points Damien Hayes Galway
6. 108 points Eddie Brennan Kilkenny
7. 98 points Dan Shanahan Waterford
8. 83 points Eoin Kelly Waterford
9. 82 points Brian Carroll Offaly
10. 81 points Niall Gilligan Clare
11. 80 points Ben O’Connor Cork
12. 71 points Tony Griffin Clare
13. 68 points Rory Jacob Wexford
14. 68 points Martin Comerford Kilkenny
15. 67 points Joe Canning Galway
16. 67 points Niall Moran Limerick
17. 66 points Eoin Larkin Kilkenny
18. 61 points Jerry O’Connor Cork
19. 60 points Diarmuid McMahon Clare
20. 59 points Niall McCarthy Cork

Another cut at this data is to look at the average points from play per game. Below is the list of top 20 scorers from play ordered by the average number of points per game. Players who played less than 10 games are excluded:

1. 3.82 average points per game John Mullane Waterford
2. 3.82 average points per game Lar Corbett Tipperary
3. 3.82 average points per game Gareth Johnson Down
4. 3.72 average points per game Joe Canning Galway
5. 3.50 average points per game Damien Hayes Galway
6. 3.30 average points per game Eoin Kelly Tipperary
7. 3.30 average points per game Henry Shefflin Kilkenny
8. 3.18 average points per game Eddie Brennan Kilkenny
9. 3.00 average points per game Seamus Callanan Tipperary
10. 2.96 average points per game Tony Griffin Clare
11. 2.80 average points per game Dan Shanahan Waterford
12. 2.79 average points per game Niall Gilligan Clare
13. 2.71 average points per game Pat Horgan Cork
14. 2.70 average points per game David O’Callaghan Dublin
15. 2.62 average points per game Rory Jacob Wexford
16. 2.56 average points per game Brian Carroll Offaly
17. 2.50 average points per game Noel McGrath Tipperary
18. 2.50 average points per game Alan Kerins Galway
19. 2.48 average points per game Joe Bergin Offaly
20. 2.48 average points per game Niall Healy Galway

Either way you look at it, impressive scoring by the De La Salle man.