Eddie Brennan | Joe Canning | Ollie Canning | DJ Carey | Eugene Cloonan
Martin Comerford | Lar Corbett | Brendan Cummins | Ronan Curran
Ger Farragher | James 'cha' Fitzpatrick | Damien Fitzhenry | Paul Flynn
John Gardiner | Niall Gilligan | Damian Hayes | Conal Keaney | Michael Kavanagh
Eoin Kennedy | Eoin Kelly | Eoin Kelly | Eoin Larkin | Derek Lyng
Fergus McMahon | Seanie McMahon | Johnny McIntosh | Andrew Mitchell
Stephen Molumpy | Pat Mulcahy | John Mullane | Sean Óg Ó Hailpin
Andrew O'Shaughnessy | Ben O'Connor | Seamus Prendergast
Keith Raymond | Eoin Quigley | Joe Rabbite | Keith Rossiter | Dan Shanahan
Henry Shefflin | James Skehill | Tommy Walsh | Brian Whelehan | James Young

Joe Canning is one of the most exciting young hurlers in the country today. At just 19, he has already won two Minor All-Irelands and one U-21 crown with Galway, while he has also bagged two All-Ireland Club titles with Portumna - and at just 17 was Man of the Match in the All-Ireland win over Cork side Newtownshandrum.

He made his long-awaited Galway Senior debut last month against Cork in the National League semi-final and helped the Tribesmen to the decider, which they lost to Tipperary. Joe is a hurling natural - he can strike off both sides, is an expert free-taker, goal poacher and is a brilliant taker of sideline balls. Hurling fans everywhere are looking forward to this summer, when Joe's talents will be on display in the Championship.

You have had an incredible past year. What have been your highlights?
Winning back the county title with Portumna, and then going on to win the All-Ireland Club Championship was a great personal highlight. Getting to the final of the Fitzgibbon Cup with LIT, even though we lost in the end, was another highlight. Oh! and don’t forget the Galway U-21s winning the All-Ireland.

You made your Galway Senior debut recently. Did you find the step up from
U-21 level tough?
I found it hard to adjust to the pace of the game - it is 100 miles an hour and way faster, but hopefully once I have a few more games under my belt I will settle into it.

Who have been your toughest opponents?
The toughest person I have come up against is defender John Dalton from Kilkenny, but the Tipperary Minor team who beat us in the All-Ireland final in 2006 would have been the toughest team I faced. We were going for a hat-trick of Minor titles, and I was captain, and I think a lot was made of that. Tipp were underdogs but they were really physical and played really well on the day.

Who were your heroes growing up?
Galway's Joe Cooney would have been a hero of mine when I was young, and outside of hurling I always admired Jonny Wilkinson, the England rugby star.

Who are the players you admire now?
I like Henry Shefflin, Ken McGrath, Eoin Kelly and Dan Shanahan - because these are the guys who go out there and deliver on the big day.

What is the most important skill?
I think the most important skill is to be able to strike off both sides - you have to be able to hit the ball off your weak side as well as your strong side.

What advice would you have for young players?
Practise all the time - just take a ball out and hit it up against the wall. Work on your weak side, and whatever time you put into it, you will get the rewards out of it.


© May 2008