Canning suffers shoulder injury

Joe Canning has been ruled out of Galway’s Allianz League opener against Dublin on Sunday after damaging his shoulder.

The extent of the damage will become clearer later today when Canning sees a specialist, having sustained the injury while playing for Limerick IT against GMIT in the Fitzgibbon Cup on Tuesday.

The initial indications are that Canning could be out of action for up to six weeks, which would rule him out of most – if not all - of Galway’s Division 1A games.

It is an especially bitter blow for Canning, who was in fine form and had scored 1-8 before he was forced off in the second half.

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Last week, Canning had spoken to www.gaa.ie about his hopes for the new season.

The year 2011 is one that Joe Canning would probably like to airbrush from his memory.

Between injuries and Galway’s disastrous Championship campaign, the 23-year-old Portumna clubman started just four competitive games for his county last year.

Canning’s only Allianz League appearance was in Galway’s final game against Waterford, having been forced to sit out the early rounds with a heel injury picked up in pre-season.

Summer brought a respite from the injuries, but Galway’s troubles were flagged when they struggled to overcome Westmeath in their Leinster Championship opener and their inadequacies were further highlighted when they were then dumped out of the competition by Dublin in the semi-final.

Although Cork were overcome in the Qualifiers, Galway’s season and manager John McIntyre’s reign ended when Waterford blitzed them in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

The new season brings with it a sense of renewal for Canning; he is facing into Sunday’s Allianz League opener against Dublin injury-free and in prime condition having put down a solid pre-season.

It’s also the first time in his four-year inter-county career that he will hear a fresh voice in the dressing room, Anthony Cunningham having replaced McIntyre as Galway manager.

“Always when there is a bit of a change there is new ideas and things like that. It’s nice to get used to them as well as anything and to learn new things,” Canning said in an interview with www.gaa.ie.

“Everyone has a different approach. You are always learning no matter what and it’s good to have that bit of freshness in it.

“Everybody has their own method in training teams and how they talk. Everybody is different and that is the good thing about it.

“I suppose I am learning different things now from what I learned off John (McIntyre) and his management team. It’s always good to learn and to try improve.”

As frustrating as last year might have been, in an odd way it might have been just the break his body needed. Between club duties with Portumna, the demands of senior and U21 action with Galway as well as his involvement with LIT at Third Level, Canning’s services have been in constant demand over the past number of years.

“Hopefully it (the break) does me good,” he continues. “But nobody likes to be out of action or likes to be not playing. You want to play as much as you can because you don’t know when it could be over.

“I would love to have played more games last year but we’ll see how it goes this year.

“Obviously it’s up to the management as well. It’s a new team and a new panel and everybody is trying to get their name on the team sheet or the 24.

“That’s the big challenge. If we can improve as a team I will be happy enough with that.”

Looking ahead to the Dublin game at Pearse Stadium on Sunday, Canning says it’s imperative that Galway make a positive start to the season given the new League structures which mean they will play just five group games this year.

“It’s going to be a big challenge. They are Allianz League champions and that makes it a big challenge for us.

“You want to get a good start no matter what you do in life and we are no different. Especially with the five games you would like to get a win.

“Obviously there are less games so you can’t experiment as much, but it’s the same for everybody. We’ll be trying new things and trying to come together as best we can as a team.

“But it is going to be a massive challenge against Dublin. They will be trying to retain their title and they will obviously be thinking the same way as us.”