JOE CANNING’S LAOCHRA Gael features perhaps the definitive image of his career, his twinkle-eyed upwards gaze at the improbable arc of his winning point against Tipperary in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final.
His face betrays a kind of momentary wonder: it is as if Canning himself is briefly surprised at the outer limits of his own talent.
It’s a lovely moment, and also one at odds with the theme of the programme. Canning’s early career was defined by the fact that nobody was surprised at his talent.
For Joe Canning was the anointed one, granted in his teens a privilege that has thus far fallen only to the leaders of the country and Marty Morrissey: national renown by first-name only.
Joe. Joe. Joe. Say it’ll be so, Joe.
It wouldn’t be right to say his 2-12 turn against Cork in 2008 was a kind of supernova debut from Canning, as instead his star shone as brightly as everyone anticipated. Reflecting on the game in Laochra Gael, his brother Ollie says that game proved that, yes, Joe was as good as everyone said he was.
Clearly the element of surprise is an outgoing on talent’s ledger. But this is what feels slightly harsh about it all, that Canning’s abnormal talent was so often expressed on other people’s terms: first anticipated and then expected. There was a tyranny to these expectations, as Canning makes the remarkable concession that his performance against Cork was “the worst thing I have ever done”, saying it “raised expectations to an unrealistic level.”
The expectation – at least as it was perceived by Canning – was that he had to arrive and instantly propel Galway to an All-Ireland, a demand which overlooked the fact that a) the rest of the team weren’t good enough and b) were unlikely to ever compensate for that by getting lucky. Canning’s senior career coincided with Galway’s relocation to the Leinster championship, which meant an annual penance at the feet of Kilkenny, Brian Cody being hurling’s closest equivalent to Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry.
His team-mates seemed to feel this pressure too, as David Burke tells Laochra Gael that it would have been a “travesty” had they been unable to give Canning his All-Ireland.
Canning was sensitive to the expectations of others but then again he was sensitive to most of what was said about him, saying he was motivated by criticism and negativity, even if every sports psychologist in the country grimaced at the admission. “It worked for me”, says Canning, and it’s not like the seeking and polishing of slights was ill-befitting of his quality. The same worked out okay for Michael Jordan.
He is at least not shy in admitting it. Speaking after the 2012 Leinster final win over Kilkenny, Canning thanked the non-believing Galway fans who didn’t turn up, their glum forecasting providing an added little spark.
It is interesting to see how the opinions of others shaped Canning. Recalling of how he felt as he stood over the free to send the 2012 All-Ireland final to a replay, Canning speaks not of fearing sadness or devastation but instead of being “ridiculed”; he fretted about everyone but himself, of “letting people down” and worrying what might be said to his parents.
Watch Laochra Gael and Canning’s parallels with Lionel Messi are irresistible: both were generational talents who won early and often at club level but whose careers became defined by the search for the greatest prize at the highest representational level available to them.
Canning’s crowning moment came five years earlier, his audacious crescendo to the semi-final given its rightful epilogue against Waterford. It’s notable that Laochra Gael does not address the final defeat to Limerick a year later, as Canning’s career story was completed by winning in 2017. Asked to describe the moment when the final whistle blew against Waterford, Canning remembers “the release of a pressure valve.”
If there is a downside to extraordinary sporting talent then surely it is this – that the rest of us demand that it must be fulfilled to our measure.
Get instant updates on the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues on The42 app. Brought to you by Allianz Insurance, proud sponsors of the Allianz Leagues for over 30 years.
