IT WASN’T A “bizarre outburst” but Ollie Canning pulled no punches when asked for his thoughts on brother Joe’s All-Ireland final controversy, painting the media reaction as “very poor GAA journalism.”
The reaction to the comment left his defenders bemused that one snippet from a much longer interview had been spun into a major story, and speaking at a press event for the AIB All-Ireland Club Championships, Ollie was critical of the media for whipping up a storm.
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“If you listen to the whole interview, I thought the reaction from the media was completely overhyped,” the Portumna man said, making it very clear that his own comments should not be misinterpreted.
“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, some of the comments were made in jest. As players you have no control over that. I don’t want anyone to say that Ollie Canning has had a bizarre outburst. This is not what this is in case I’m misquoted in the papers.
Asked if the controversy had affected Joe in the run up to the replay, won easily by Kilkenny, Ollie said: “No I don’t think it affected Joe. I’m not going to make anything more out of it. I’m not looking for headlines here.
“I thought it was taken out of context. Joe has great respect for all the Kilkenny players and that’s all there is to say.
“He was asked a question and he answered it as honestly as he could. You can try and read into things and makes 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.”
Joe returned to club action on Sunday, but his comeback tally of 0-13 couldn’t save Portumna as they crashed out in the county quarter-finals with a shock defeat against Turloughmore.
“We try hard every year but it’s getting tougher,” Ollie said. “It’s very competitive in Galway. We were beaten yesterday but that’s the way it goes, back to the drawing-board again.
Turloughmore played very well on the day, that was it. They worked very hard and we didn’t have the answers. That’s how it goes, year to year. You train hard — at times it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.
Turloughmore will move on now, they’ll be competitive in the last four. It’s pretty open in Galway at the moment, you have any number of teams who could win it.
Ollie Canning: Joe comments 'completely overhyped' by media
IT WASN’T A “bizarre outburst” but Ollie Canning pulled no punches when asked for his thoughts on brother Joe’s All-Ireland final controversy, painting the media reaction as “very poor GAA journalism.”
The younger Canning hit the headlines last month when he described Henry Shefflin’s behaviour in the drawn game between Kilkenny and Galway as “unsporting.”
The reaction to the comment left his defenders bemused that one snippet from a much longer interview had been spun into a major story, and speaking at a press event for the AIB All-Ireland Club Championships, Ollie was critical of the media for whipping up a storm.
“If you listen to the whole interview, I thought the reaction from the media was completely overhyped,” the Portumna man said, making it very clear that his own comments should not be misinterpreted.
“One or two comments were taken out of context. I thought it was very poor GAA journalism by a number of reporters.
Asked if the controversy had affected Joe in the run up to the replay, won easily by Kilkenny, Ollie said: “No I don’t think it affected Joe. I’m not going to make anything more out of it. I’m not looking for headlines here.
“I thought it was taken out of context. Joe has great respect for all the Kilkenny players and that’s all there is to say.
“He was asked a question and he answered it as honestly as he could. You can try and read into things and makes 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.”
Joe returned to club action on Sunday, but his comeback tally of 0-13 couldn’t save Portumna as they crashed out in the county quarter-finals with a shock defeat against Turloughmore.
“We try hard every year but it’s getting tougher,” Ollie said. “It’s very competitive in Galway. We were beaten yesterday but that’s the way it goes, back to the drawing-board again.
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GAA Galway GAA Henry Shefflin Hurling Joe Canning Kilkenny GAA Ollie Canning Portumna GAA Taking Stick Turloughmore GAA