Joe Canning's All-Ireland final free ‘wasn’t outside his range, it was just probably outside his comfort zone’, says brother Ollie

By Paul Keane

Former Galway captain Ollie Canning has insisted that younger brother Joe has no regrets about going for glory in the dying moments of the All-Ireland hurling final.

Reigning Hurler of the Year Joe had a long-range free from close to his own 45-metre line to level with Limerick in the eighth minute of injury time but his puck dropped short.

He admitted in an interview afterwards that it was within his range but that he’d tried to hit it too hard and mishit it.

A point would have ensured a replay after a gallant fight-back and some commentators suggested that Canning might have been better off working the ball upfield.

But sibling and four-time All-Star Ollie said Joe made the correct decision at the time, and was unfortunate to see his effort drop agonisingly short.

“What’s the old saying, ‘Hindsight is the foresight of a gobshite’,” said Ollie.

“It’s very easy to say that afterwards, that he should have took it short. If he had gone short and if someone had intercepted it or if a shot eventually went wide, then all you’d be hearing is,’Why didn’t he go for it?’ He’s hit them from that distance plenty of times before. It wasn’t outside his range, it was just probably outside his comfort zone but that’s a different thing entirely. I’ve seen him myself score them from that distance. Was he right to go for it? He was.

“He had to take that free on, if he’d got a perfect connection he’d more than likely have scored. He did 99% of it right because it was on target and only just came up short. Was he disappointed? Yes. But do you beat yourself up over it? No. You can’t, that’s just the way sport goes.”

Joe also admitted after the final that if Galway had secured a replay it would have been ‘daylight robbery’ on Limerick.

Ollie agreed that Limerick deserved the landmark win but claimed that the Tribesmen will return a rejuvenated force in 2019.

“As a team, the feedback from Joe was that the lads were really disappointed, they felt they could have done things differently on the day,” said Canning.

“They felt the performance wasn’t enough to win the game and they accept that. But they also know that a one-point loss doesn’t make them a bad team. They’ll be disappointed that they didn’t close it out but I feel that when Galway get back training and get the winter over them, they’re going to come back really hungry.”

Ultra-experienced Joe is in the running to retain the Hurler of the Year award. He’ll go up against colleague Padraic Mannion and Limerick’s Cian Lynch and could become the first player to win back-to-back titles.

“These awards don’t bother Joe in the slightest, if they did, then he wouldn’t be the player he is,” said Canning.

“The thing I like about it is that the players are voting for it, it’s not down to journalists or the public. But it will still come down to opinions and each player’s vote. To be fair, they’re all deserving candidates. You could have put five or six on the shortlist.”

Galway will return to Division 1B of the National League in early 2019 and recent statistics suggest that’s a positive.

The last two All-Ireland winners have come from the league’s second tier, though Canning isn’t convinced it’s a big issue.

“It depends where you are in your own level of development,” said Canning. “Limerick’s big thing was to get promoted this year. When they did that, it gave them confidence early in the year and a bit of a lift going into the summer.

“But teams generally are getting out of the league what they want. Teams getting relegated and promoted, I don’t think it’s as big a deal as people might say. I definitely don’t think it’s a weight around anyone’s neck going into 2019 as a 1A or 1B team.”

Ollie himself is 42 and has completed a 26th season of adult service with Portumna.

“As long as the body can take the training, I don’t see any reason to stop,” he said. “You would notice the age difference though — there were a couple of guys of 17 or 18 playing senior this year! Some of these guys weren’t even born when I started as a senior.”

Ollie Canning was speaking at Saturday’s GAA Youth Forum in partnership with Sky Sports.