Man, ball and all? Joe Canning hits out at analysis of crucial free

Former Galway captain Canning rejected the Sunday Game's analysis of the incident at the end of the Galway v Kilkenny game

1 May 2022; Referee Colm Lyons leaves the pitch followed by Kilkenny manager Brian Cody after the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Galway and Kilkenny at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Galway great Joe Canning reckons Derek McGrath and Shane Dowling's Sunday Game analysis of the free that cost Kilkenny in last weekend's Leinster SHC tie was 'hilarious'.

Kilkenny's Paddy Deegan was adjudged by referee Colm Lyons to have fouled Galway's Tom Monaghan, clearing Conor Cooney to strike the winning point from the free.

Former Waterford boss Derek McGrath claimed in his analysis that it was a 'really, really unfair decision on Kilkenny' arguing that 'you're told for years, attack the ball. You're told, take the man, ball and all'.

Ex-Limerick star Dowling agreed and said that McGrath, 'hit the nail on the head; man, ball and all'.

But speaking at the launch of the Bord Gais Energy GAA Legends Tour series at Croke Park, former Galway captain Canning rejected the duo's argument as laughable.

"I'm not just saying it as (I'm from Galway), and people will say, 'Ah Jesus, you're from Galway' but I found it hilarious that...now I didn't see the Sunday Game, I don't really watch it, but I heard it back that Shane Dowling and Derek McGrath said it wasn't a free because he got 'man, ball and all'.

"Like, if you get the man is that not a free? It didn't make sense what they were saying, to me. Any time you go through the back of a player was a free, to be straight up about it.

"And if it was the opposite way, you'd have to hold your hand up and say, 'Yeah, it was a free'. But at the end of the day, if you get the man, ball and all, nine times out of 10, is not a free? No?."

* The Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Tour series, which start on Saturday 28 May, will feature Joe Canning, Cora Staunton as well as a host of legends from across the GAA world. Bord Gáis Energy customers will get the exclusive opportunity to attend all tours throughout the summer. The full schedule and details of how to book your place on a tour can be viewed at crokepark.ie/legends