Joe Canning can’t understand all the negativity towards hurling over the past few weeks.
The Galway star reckons it’s got worse since matches returned after Covid, but he believes the game is “in a good place.”
Portuma man Canning, 32, says it may come from 1980s and 1990s players being interviewed, who are not up to speed with the modern game.
The complaints have been endless over the past two months, from the weight of the ball and the size of the bas, to the amount of frees awarded, the new advantage rule and the introduction of the sin bin/penalty.
It’s been hard to keep up.
But Canning insists that opinions and voices outside the panel are irrelevant.
“It doesn’t really matter what anybody else thinks outside of what you are trying to do yourself in your own county,” he said.
“Everybody has opinions obviously, but you kind of block them out.
“Sometimes I just find it really funny. Everybody seems to have the same opinion lately.
“To me, if we went into a room and there’s 10 people. Those 10 people shouldn't have the same opinion realistically.
“There might be one person who gives their opinion. Then the other nine are just probably yes-men that go ‘oh yeah, I agree with that.’
“Instead of giving their real thoughts on it.
“I don’t believe that everybody should have the same opinion.
“Like, why not have a different opinion and tell people what it is? I think people are just latching on to some things and just going with it.”
Canning points to the outcry over the number of frees being awarded and scored in games.
“There has been a lot in the last couple of weeks about there being so many frees, but then there has been nothing reported in the last two weeks,” he said.
“We played against Waterford. I scored four frees and I think we had six or seven frees that Evan (Niland) scored (against Cork) so that’s 11 in two games and I’ve heard nothing about the low amount of frees.
“But when there‘s a high (number of) frees, there’s the negative.
“I don’t know if it’s covid or what but people love to give out a bit more in the last couple of months and they are looking for the negative more so than anything.
“It’s guys from back in the 1980s/90s that’s being interviewed and I don’t know if they are up to speed either with today’s game.”
Canning can’t see anything wrong with score fests and shoot outs.
His own Galway hit 4-28 in their recent win over Waterford in a game that had a whopping 58 scores.
Canning continued: “I even heard there about the high scoring.
“There was something last week from a guy who played in the (drawn) 2014 All Ireland final, which is considered one of the best matches ever - it was 3-22 to 1-28 and no one gave out about the score of that.
“But people are giving out that we are getting 30 points now but that game was 31 points apiece.
“So I just think there’s too much negativity and everyone has an opinion and is going now with somebody influential who says something and we all just jump on that.
“Like try and look at the positives, what’s wrong with high scores?”
Canning pointed to former Cork full back Diarmuid O’Sullivan’s legendary 2001 score against Limerick from deep inside his own half, when he bowled over an opponent before unleashing a monstrous shot.
“Do you remember Diarmuid O’Sullivan scoring a point from his own 45, years ago and it is considered one of the best scores?
“It is always being shown and now if two or three guys do that it’s like ‘Oh no we can’t have that happening.”
Canning also dismissed more chat that the physicality is gone out of hurling and it’s now just free after free and point-scoring contests.
The 2017 All-Ireland winner and six-time All Star says he’s still feeling the effects from a recent league game with Waterford.
“I’d say if you asked a lot of players, the physicality is still there,” said Canning.
“I’m still sore from two weeks ago against Waterford.
“It’s very important to have crowds at the games. I think people underestimate what not having a crowd (means).
“I was watching the Antrim/Wexford game and even the 500 at that in Belfast was huge.
“It added to the whole occasion and you could hear them roaring for Antrim at the end and it is a huge hole in games in the last 12 months.
“If you get crowds back, it will add again to it. And there is physicality still there.
“If you ask the players, no one is coming out of the games these days and saying I’m grand after that.”
