Master and commander
Since he won his first All-Ireland as a 16-year-old with the Galway minors, Canning has been touted as the ‘new’ Henry Shefflin. They are of similar size, boast similar skills, each is a master craftsman capable of drawing gasps of admiration with sublime touches. Henry and Joe are scorers-in-chief for their respective clubs, two pairs of broad shoulders on which rest massive pressure.
Not that you’d think so on speaking to them. Still just 20, Joe is as cool off the field as on, mature far beyond his years, while Henry? Well, this is all old hat now to this prince of players, another big day in a career that has seen so many.
What are Henry’s early impressions of the Galway tyro? Positive, very positive.
“I was privileged enough to be down in Thurles last year for the Galway game against Cork — the performance he put in that day was absolutely phenomenal (in his senior debut, Joe scored 2-12 of Galway’s 2-15). He has it all, a level-headed fella, brilliant hurler — and he is going to be a brilliant hurler, there’s no doubt about that.”
As a guy who has often had to deflect praise himself, however, Shefflin isn’t about to load any extra pressure on Joe Canning, and so, changes tack.
“Portumna aren’t all about Joe Canning, they’re a serious team all the way through; you start off with Ollie Canning at corner-forward (Joe’s older brother, multiple All-Star), go all the way to Damien Hayes — they’re a serious, serious team, with serious players. To be fair they’d probably say the same about us.
“It’s going to be a great test for us, they’re probably the best team around for the last few years and their record shows that. You want to test yourself against the best, that’s what we’ll be doing.”
Portumna and Ballyhale are seen by most independent observers as being the current top two on the club scene, with Birr of Offaly always in the picture. Circumstances have kept them apart, however, and they have never before met at this level. Though Portumna are champions, going for their second title in three years, Ballyhale are odds-on favourites.
It doesn’t make much sense, reckons Henry.
“Three years ago I remember when they played James Stephens (Kilkenny champions of 2005) up in Thurles in the semi-final; James Stephens were All-Ireland champions, but Portumna gave them the runaround that day with one of the finest displays I can remember.
“They’ve been worthy champions in two of the last three years and were probably unlucky to lose to Loughrea in Galway in the year in between. We know how hard it is to win the All-Ireland club title and to try to come back again, but they’ve come back stronger than ever.”
And it is a tough title to win, probably the toughest of all, says Shefflin, and with six All-Ireland inter-county medals to his name, to just one club title, he would know.
“You play so long for your club but you get only so many (good) years with them. We’re very lucky — how many clubs throughout the country are winning All-Irelands? Everything has to fall into place — the right players coming through at the right time, the right age, with the right coach, the right support all around. It doesn’t happen often, but we’re very lucky in Ballyhale in that it has happened twice for us — the era gone by with the Fennellys and now this, that great Feile na nGael U14 team (Division 1 winners in 1998).
“Lots of things have to happen for this to happen. I remember walking out of the field in Enniscorthy when they won that Feile na nGael title and hoping that some day we might win a Kilkenny county title, but that same year we had to battle for our lives just to stay up senior. That’s just the way things evolve, that’s the way it’s happened for us. This team is backboned now by that U14 team, and you have a few old lads like myself, Aidan Cummins and Bob Aylward, hanging in there. But you need all those ingredients if it’s to work.”
Still though, when all is said and done, for the Shamrocks to advance, give themselves a chance of winning a roll-leading fifth All-Ireland title, doesn’t it come back to Joe Canning, to stopping the giant Portumna youngster? “Of course, and he’ll still probably go out and score 1-10, but we can’t focus all our attention on him, that would be very foolish.”
No specific gameplan for Joe then? “I don’t know anything about gameplans, I just get a jersey and go out on the field, try me best, work hard — that’s my gameplan! Obviously Joe Canning is one of their major players, and whoever has the duty of marking him will be up against it. To be fair though it’s about the simple things, it’s about stopping the supply of ball in to him — if Joe Canning gets a good supply of ball, he’ll do damage.
“If he doesn’t, it improves our chances of winning.”
Meanwhile, of course, up in Portumna exactly the same questions are being asked about how they are going to stop Henry Shefflin.
“I wouldn’t say so,” he laughed. “They’re probably saying he’s gone a bit old now, slowing down. I don’t think it’s as simple as that; when it comes to this stage it’s about the lads that fellas like ye the media probably haven’t noticed, it’s about some unknown who’s been playing club hurling for six, seven or ten years. Both clubs have about the same number of county players, and if they cancel each other out, it’s about the guys that are left.
“Both teams have a strong panel; we’ve won three senior counties in a row but we wouldn’t have done that without a strong panel. That’s what makes the difference. When we weren’t winning as a club, we didn’t have a strong panel — now we do. It doesn’t get any easier as you get older, last Tuesday week it snowed very heavily here. You’re sitting there in front of the fire and you’re thinking — Jesus wouldn’t I love to be staying home, instead of packing the bag!
“But you get up, get going, and you get involved, you’re out in the fresh air, training for an All-Ireland semi-final against the All-Ireland champions above in Thurles, and it’s then you think — yes, it’s worth it, this is what it’s about.”
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