Joe Canning

Biography

Joe Canning was born in Portumna in 1988. His uncle, Frankie Canning, played minor hurling with Galway for three years in their ill-fated Munster Championship campaign in the 1960s and was a non-playing substitute when the Galway senior team were defeated by Offaly in the All-Ireland final of 1981. Canning is the brother of Séamus, Frank, Davy, Ollie, Ivan and Deirdre. All but one of those siblings would go on to win an All-Ireland medal at either club or inter-county level in either hurling or camogie. Ollie played for and captained the Galway senior hurlers winning four All Stars, while Deirdre played for the county camogie team. Joe's family instilled a love of hurling in him, and he was a talented underage hurler and rugby player. Canning was educated locally, before going on to study Business and Marketing at the Limerick Institute of Technology.

Club

Canning plays his club hurling with Portumna and has enjoyed much success on what has come to be regarded as one of the greatest club teams of the modern era.

He made his senior debut as a fifteen-year-old in 2004 as Portumna reached the final of the county championship. Athenry provided the opposition and eventually won the game by 0–15 to 0–13.

In 2005 Portumna qualified for the championship decider for a third successive year, with Canning lining out in his second county final. Canning scored 1–11 to give the club a 3–21 to 3–12 victory and a personal first county club championship winners' medal. He later added a Connacht medal as Four Roads were defeated in the provincial decider. Canning subsequently lined out in his first All-Ireland club final with Cork's Newtownshandrum providing the opposition. Even as a seventeen-year-old he played an instrumental role in Portumna's win, managing to score 1–6 in the game. As a result of this he was also presented with the Man of the Match award.

A defeat by Loughrea in 2006 brought Portumna's championship campaign to an end, however, the team bounced back in 2007 with Canning winning a second set of county championship and Connacht winners' medals. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Portumna face Birr, the most successful team in the history of the club championship. Canning chipped in with ten points to secure a second All-Ireland winners' medal in three years.

In 2008 Canning won his third county club championship medal as Gort fell by 1–18 to 2–7. Once again Portumna reached the All-Ireland decider, with Munster champions De La Salle providing the opposition. A huge 2–24 to 1–8 victory gave Canning his third All-Ireland winners' medal.

Canning scored 1–10 from placed balls against Loughrea to win a third county championship medal, his fourth overall, in 2009. Portumna subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland final and had the chance to make history by winning a third successive championship. A 1–19 to 0–17 defeat by Ballyhale Shamrocks, however, ended Portumna's great run of success.

College

In 2007 Canning was in his first year as a member of the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) hurling team. He won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal that year as the National University of Ireland, Galway were defeated by 2–15 to 0–13 in the final.

LIT hoped to claim historic back-to-back titles in 2008 and qualified for the final against the Waterford Institute of Technology. In spite of Canning scoring a remarkable 1–16 of LIT's total in a tightly contested final, he still ended up on the losing side.

In spite of enjoying just one Fitzgibbon Cup success during his career, Canning was named at full-forward on the Fitzgibbon Cup centenary team in 2012.

Minor & Under-21

Canning first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway minor hurling team as a fifteen-year-old in 2004. After having no competition in the provincial series the westerners reached the All-Ireland final that year where they played Kilkenny. That game ended in a 3–12 to 1–18 stalemate, however, Galway narrowly won the replay by 0–16 to 1–12 giving Canning a first All-Ireland winners' medal in the minor grade.

Canning lined out in a second consecutive All-Ireland final in 2005, this time with Limerick providing the opposition. Another high-scoring game ensued, however, at the full-time whistle Galway were the victors by 3–12 to 0–17.

In 2006 Canning was appointed captain of a Galway minor team attempting to capture an historic third All-Ireland title in-a-row. Furthermore, Canning was hoping to equal Jimmy Doyle's record of winning three minor championships in-a-row. On the day Galway were comprehensively defeated by 2–18 to 2–7 by a stronger Tipperary side. Canning himself felt that the team could have performed better on the day:

"To me, the three-in-a-row thing wasn't in my mind. Our performance was what frustrated me that day. We didn't do ourselves justice. Tipperary blew us off the pitch basically".

2006 also saw Canning make his debut on the Galway under-21 hurling team. He came on as a substitute in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny, however, in spite of scoring 2–4, with 2–3 coming from play and ending up as the game's top scorer, Galway were easily defeated in a one sided contest.

In 2007 Canning again was a key member of the under-21 team as Galway finally captured the All-Ireland winners' medal by defeating Dublin in the final.

Canning's last two seasons with the under-21 team saw Galway face defeat at the All-Ireland semi-final stage. Canning captained the county Under 21 team in 2009.

Senior

After his exploits at minor and under-21 levels the call frequently came for Canning to join the Galway senior team. He was a late call up to the team for the Tribesmen's make or break All-Ireland quarterfinal against Kilkenny in 2006. After some deliberation Canning turned down the offer choosing instead to concentrate on his role as captain of the minor team. The seniors lost the game which led to the eventual departure of manager Conor Hayes. Canning declined to join the senior team again in 2007, however, it was expected that he would finally join up with the team for Ger Loughnane's second year in charge as manager in 2008. Canning remained silent on the issue and refused to commit himself until after the completion of the club championship. After that All-Ireland club victory several players were invited to join the panel, with Loughnane confirming after Galway's National Hurling League victory over Limerick that Canning was one of a number of players that had accepted.

Canning went on to make his senior debut in the National League semi-final against Cork, and featured again in the final against Tipperary. Galway were defeated by a strong Tipperary side but Canning's second-half performance was singled out for praise.

Canning's championship debut came several months later against Antrim in the first round of the qualifiers. He finished as the game's top scorer in Galway's victory with a tally of 2–6, 1–4 of which came from play. Canning was again top scorer in the second round with nine points, five of these from play. Galway, however, then exited the championship after a two-point defeat against Cork, despite an impressive display by Canning in which he scored both Galway goals and twelve of their fifteen points. His performances later earned him an All-Star award, while he was also named Vodafone Young Hurler of the Year. In 2009 Canning was again nominated for the Young Hurler award and an All-Star. He was named on the All-Star team, but Noel McGrath was named Young Hurler of the Year. Canning was also awarded the Halifax GPA Fair Play award for hurling in 2009.

In May 2010, he scored 1–5 as Galway won the 2010 National Hurling League with a 2–22 to 1–17 win against Cork at Semple Stadium.

Canning hit 1–10 in the 2012 Leinster final where Galway shocked the defending All-Ireland champions Kilkenny, beating them by 2–21 to 2–11. Canning was awarded man of the match for his display. He was a key member of the Galway team which reached the 2012 All-Ireland Final that September. Canning converted a late pressure free to earn Galway a draw in the final and put the decider to a replay. Disappointment followed for Galway however, as Kilkenny won the replay three weeks later. Canning was later nominated for the Hurler of the Year Award and received his third All Star Award, as recognition for his outstanding performances throughout the 2012 season.

In December 2013, Canning was named as the new Galway senior hurling captain for 2014.

In June 2014, Canning scored 2-3 against Kilkenny in the 2014 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship as Galway came back from 10 pints down with six minutes to play to force a draw. Canning scored the last point of the game with the last play of the game from out on the left near the touch-line to level the game after Henry Shefflin appeared to have won it for Kilkenny with a similar point at the other end.

In 2015, Canning played in his second All-Ireland Final, scoring 1-8 in a four-point defeat to Kilkenny. Canning finished as the top scorer in the Championship with a total of 4-58, 3-16 scores coming from play.

In 2016, Canning went off injured at half-time in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tipperary on 14 August. A week later he had surgery on a hamstring injury which would keep him out of hurling until February 2017. He made his comeback in the Galway team on 19 February in the 2017 National Hurling League against Wexford in a 3-13 to 1-21 defeat at Pearse Stadium. He came on as a second half substitute and scored a penalty. On 22 April 2017, Canning scored 0-9 as Galway won the 2017 National Hurling League after a 3-21 to 0-14 win against Tipperary in the final.

In 2017, in the All-Ireland semi-final, Canning scored an injury time winning point against Tipperary on 6 August as Galway qualified for the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final. On 3 September 2017, Canning started for Galway and scored nine points as they won their first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 29 years against Waterford.

Personal life

In September 2010, Canning was appointed an Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland.

Career statistics

Team

Individual