Questions about and comparisons with his father are inevitable, but Ruairi Canavan seems to take it all in his stride.
He’s not the first Canavan to tread this path with his brother Darragh, four years his senior, already having had to deal with being labelled ‘son of God’.
“Nah, I've been called other names maybe!” Ruairi smiles. “Nah, I don't think it really affects you. I wouldn't pay much attention to it either. Just try to play our own game and try to make our own way.”
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Being Peter Canavan’s son and playing in a similar position to him must bring pressures that other emerging stars don’t have to deal with though?
“Not too bad, pressure-wise. It comes with it. You just have to take it – it is what it is. I don’t feel any real pressure.
“I know there would be ones looking out to see you going well and some would like to see you doing poorly.
“I never seen him play. I wasn’t born for the All-Ireland in 2003 so I’ve no memory of anything like that. Just videos would be the height of it.”
And his father keeps a respectful distance when it comes to his football.
“He wouldn’t come at you with advice or criticism, he would very much let you find your own feet.
“If you had something to ask or he felt something that needed to be put back on track, he would do that. But he doesn’t overly burden us or anything.”
If Ruairi was too young to have taken in his father’s playing days, then his father’s career wound up too soon to become a social media sensation like his son has.
His outrageous dummy solo while playing for Errigal Ciaran in last year’s Ulster club quarter-final defeat to Glen went viral, with ESPN’s Tik Tok account even picking up on it.
“Friends would send you a message saying look at this but at the end of the day we were still gutted.
“We didn’t get over the line. we went into that game hoping we’d win and we were confident that we could but Glen were better on the day and a step ahead of us so it was still gutting.”
Having trained with the Tyrone senior panel for a period last year after inspiring the county’s All-Ireland under-20 success, Canavan has made his debut during the current League campaign and converted two frees in his third appearance off the bench recently against Kerry as they secured a much-needed win.
Canavan also came on as a substitute as the Red Hands picked up another huge win in Clones against Monaghan in the penultimate round of the Allianz League.
However, Canavan has multiple masters as he remains eligible for the under-20 grade and Tyrone begin the defence of their All-Ireland at that grade against Down on March 29.
A vote at the recent GAA Congress sees the ruling around player-eligibility for under-20 and senior Championship relaxed, however, with players allowed to play in both competitions provided there is a seven-day window between games.
“The ambition would be to do well with the under-20s first. If I get the chance to get a bit of gametime with the seniors, I’d like to make an impact with that season, get as far as we can and get a bounceback from last season.
“Even the training with the seniors, it’s really enjoyable. You learn something every night.”
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