'He is so easy-going, so chilled out. Just loves hurling' - Pádraic Mannion on Galway starlet Rabbitte

The young Galway forward was uncontainable on Saturday against Cork. 

4 July 2026; Jason Rabbitte of Galway during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Cork and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Before the middling good weather arrived and the Galway hurlers ensconced themselves at Kenny Park, Athenry for however long they were relevant in hurling's 2026 summer, Pádraic and Cathal Mannion would give Jason Rabbitte a lift to wherever training was on.

Pádraic is one of the two oldest starters on the Galway team. His part-time chauffeuring of one of the team’s two youngest starters enables him to offer insight into the star turn of Galway’s remarkable semi-final upset.

“He is so easy-going, so chilled out. Just loves hurling. He has such a hurling brain,” Pádraic said of Rabbitte.

Galway’s outlet kid was uncontainable on Saturday. He was fouled for three converted first-half frees. He hit three of his own. He assisted two more. His wrecking was so pronounced that he forced the Cork management to move Eoin Downey back into a full-back berth that he hadn't occupied since being sent off in last year's All-Ireland final.

Absolutely nothing surprising in any of the above, insisted Mannion, even though we're talking about someone who is still U20 and even though this was just his second senior inter-county appearance at GAA HQ.

“He is doing that at training every second day,” Mannion continued. “If you ask anyone in that dressing-room, no one is any bit surprised by anything he does out there. Yeah, no surprise from anyone in our set-up.” Rabbitte is part of the new maroon wave. Trayers, Ryan, Daniels, Neary, Niland, and Burke are the others to be given and to grab their chance.

For a 33-year-old who has been showing up for 12 seasons, there’s an energy to be absorbed by what these youngsters have injected into the set-up.

“You do get a lift from them. Obviously that is not going to sustain you for a full season, but when you see lads putting in such an effort and really wanting to be there, really wanting to be successful, and just pushing themselves, that is what gives you the lift.

“Great group there. The energy they have, they just love it. They don’t care about anything. They just rock up here and play like there is no pressure on them, and it is great for some of the more experienced lads to be seeing that and hopefully both kind of groups are complimenting each other.”