The GAA PwC All-Star awards recognised the best players of the 2023 intercounty season - but Kilkenny legend TJ Reid was a notable absentee from Friday night's ceremony at the RDS.
The Ballyhale Shamrocks forward moved into the top ten most decorated All-Stars of all-time this year with his seventh award, after once again playing an influential role in bringing Kilkenny to the All-Ireland final.
Reid scored 2-73 across the championship season, making him the top scorer in the 2023 hurling championship at 36 years of age.
It was a stunning season once again, so his absence from Friday's All-Star awards was intriguing - and its been revealed that he and fellow Cats All Star Eoin Cody were missing from the RDS due to commitments at a stag do in Cheltenham.
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TJ Reid missed All-Stars ceremony for stag do
It was a memorable week for TJ Reid, who not only won a seventh All-Star award but also celebrated his 36th birthday - and he rounded off the week in style by travelling to his brother Richie's stag in Cheltenham.
The Reids were joined by another Kilkenny All-Star winner, with Eoin Cody also on the stag weekend and missing from the RDS awards ceremony.
Cheltenham was chosen for the stag do due to the racing card at the iconic course this weekend, and Irish jockey David Mullins joined the party on Friday night.
TJ Reid would share a photo on Instagram of him and Cody jokingly accepting their "awards" outside a bar in the English city.
Photo: @tjreid12 on Instagram
The pair were represented by family members at Friday night's All-Star awards.
TJ Reid's wife Niamh de Brun attended the ceremony, while both Reid and Cody had their awards collected by their fathers in their absence.
The presence of Reid Sr and Cody Sr led to some rather brilliant photo ops with the Kilkenny All-Star winners on the red carpet.
17 November 2023; Kilkenny award winners, left to right, Eoin Murphy, Sean Reid, representing his son TJ Reid, Huw Lawlor, Larry Cody, representing his son Eoin Cody, and Mikey Butler, with their PwC GAA/GPA All-Star Awards during the 2023 PwC GAA/GPA All-Star Awards at the RDS in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Earlier this year, after Kilkenny's dramatic last-gasp victory in the Leinster final against Galway, TJ Reid was met with a man on a stag do of his own dressed in full Cats kit.
We'd hazard a guess his All-Star-winning Cheltenham jaunt might take the prize for his most memorable stag of 2023.
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