Cats dominate by ‘playing on the edge’, claims Canning

GALWAY wonderkid Joe Canning has admitted that Kilkenny’s ability to go “to the limit of the rules” is the reason for their dominance of the game.

Kilkenny have been subjected to repeated criticism for “playing on the edge” over the course of their three-year monopoly of the All-Ireland Championship, but Canning, who scored 2-9 in the Leinster semi-final defeat to the Cats on Saturday, says their physical approach is the template other teams must aspire to.

“They take it to the limit and that’s why they’re champions. You have to push yourself to the limit of the rules and fair play to them, you have to respect them for that as well,” said Canning, who was speaking at the launch of Get Your Back Up, a public awareness campaign for Ankylosing Spondylitis, a painful spinal and pelvic ailment which typically hits young people.