Ollie slams coverage of Joe’s comments on Shefflin

Galway legend Ollie Canning has hit out at media coverage of comments by his brother Joe following the drawn All-Ireland SHC final against Kilkenny.

Joe Canning made headlines when describing Henry Shefflin’s act of running to complain to referee Barry Kelly as ‘not sportsmanlike’.

“I thought the reaction from the media was completely overhyped,” said Ollie Canning yesterday. “I felt it was cheap reporting, one or two comments were taken out of context. I thought it was very poor GAA journalism by a number of reporters.

“If you listen to the 12 minutes (of the interview) some of the comments were made in jest. Unfortunately as players you have no control over that. Joe has great respect for all the Kilkenny players and that’s all there is to say. He (Joe) was asked a question and he answered it as honestly as he could. You can try and read into things and make stories out of comments and a lot of the time there are no stories there. You ask questions, and guys try and give you a straight answer. I don’t think it affected Joe but I’m not going to make anything more out of it.”

Despite the disappointment of their All-Ireland final replay defeat by Kilkenny, Canning considers 2012 a successful year for Galway hurling. “At the start of the year they had a relegation play-off with Dublin. They then went on to win the Leinster title and reach the All-Ireland final, you’d have to say it’s been a successful year. There is definitely a lot to build on.”