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Joe Canning pointed to his sore ribs and fractured thumb as proof that the hurling’s physique was not watered down, despite recent criticism to the contrary.
The former Hurler of the Year missed Galway’s win over Cork on Sunday but aims to be fully fit for next month’s Tribesmen’s Leinster Championship semi-final against winners Antrim and Dublin.
“I would say if you ask a lot of players, the physique is still there,” he said at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy’s second GAAGAABox series.
Joe Canning pointed to his sore ribs and fractured thumb as proof that the hurling’s physique was not watered down. Photo: INPHO / Tommy Dickson
“I still have pain for two weeks against Waterford. People underestimate that there is no crowd [means]. I was watching the Antrim-Wexford game and even the 500 in Belfast was huge. It’s a huge hole in the games over the past 12 months. And if you collect mobs it will add up again.
“There is physical. If you ask the players, nobody comes out of games these days saying, ‘I’m great after that’.
Galway’s victory over Cork on Sunday marked them as joint National League champions along with the other Division 1 group winners Kilkenny – unless they meet in the league when the game is doubled as decider of the league.
#HurlingToTheCore Ambassador Joe Canning of Galway at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy’s second GAAGAABox series, which features the most passionate hurling fans across the country filmed in their living rooms as they experience the agony and the ecstasy of following their county’s fortunes from home. Photo: Brendan Moran / Sportsfile
“I think everyone would like to participate in a National League final. It’s a little frustrating that you couldn’t get another match, and it would have been a good match against Kilkenny. But it’s like that.
“Who am I to challenge what the GAA decides? They designed it that way, so we’ll have to live with it, I’m afraid.
For Canning, the increased skill level of players explains the high score in so many recent competitions, with the 30-point barrier being regularly broken in this year’s Allianz Hurling League.
“I think the skill levels are much better, yes. I didn’t watch games on the lockdown until the early 2000s, and saw people just grab the ball and drive it onto the pitch without caring. It has become more of a possession-based game, and the skill of the game is now more important.
“I think it’s in a good place. There has been a lot of talk over the past two weeks about there being so many free ones, but nothing has been reported in the past two weeks.
“We played against Waterford – I scored four free kicks – and I think we had six or seven free kicks that Evan [Niland] scored yesterday so it’s 11 in two games and I haven’t heard anything about the low number of frees.
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