GAA Top 20: Canning, Cooney or Connolly - who is the greatest Galway hurler of the last 50 years?

Joe Cooney and Joe Canning have 5 All-Stars each with Cooney's two All-Irelands one ahead of Canning so far. Photo: Sportsfile

May 28 2020 02:30 AM

What were the odds on the three best Galway hurlers of the last 50 years – and possibly of all time – having the same initials?

A real longshot, but it came to pass with John Connolly, Joe Cooney and Joe Canning showcasing their amazing array skills for a combined total of 42 years. And with Canning still playing, that span will extend further whenever the current plague lifts.

Connolly starred between 1967 and 1981, Cooney between 1984 and 2000, while Canning’s on-going career was launched in 2008.

Ranking the three JCs against each other is the ultimate in borderline judgement, which is why opinion remains divided in Galway.

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Unlike Cooney (below, left) and Canning, Connolly (below, right) was part of a generation of players that had to work very hard to shake off the seriously damaging impact of a depressing decade in the Munster championship in the 1960s.

They eventually succeeded in not only doling that, but also in taking Galway to the top table, first with a hugely important National League success in 1975, followed up five years later by a first All-Ireland title for 57 years.

Connolly’s role in driving the squad forward during that period, a process which created a new and positive environment for youngsters, should never be forgotten. His selection as Galway’s first Hurler of the Year in 1980 was wholly appropriate.

Cooney and the under-18 class of 1983, which won Galway’s first All-Ireland MHC title, benefited from the new sense of confidence, with many of them going on to enjoy great senior careers. Cooney was the leader of that pack.

A five-time All Star, he was Hurler of the Year in 1987 and continued to excel in a career which also yielded two All-Ireland club titles with Sarsfields.

Joe Canning was born a month after Galway won the 1988 All-Ireland final, a time when they assumed more titles would flow quite regularly. Incredibly, it was another 29 years before their next success, with Canning one of the main men. It’s a role he filled ever since his explosive senior debut in 2008. We’re ranking him at No 1, just ahead of Cooney and Connolly.

Five-time All Star, Pete Finnerty, a wing-back of ferocious power and determination, comes next followed by Conor Hayes, one of a small Galway group who won three All-Ireland medals in the 1980s. One of the smartest full-backs in the game and a man for the really big days, he was also an excellent leader, highlighted by captaining Galway to the All-Ireland double in 1987-88.

Like John Connolly, Iggy Clarke was part of the squad that took Galway out of the doldrums in the mid-1970s. Unfortunately, he missed the 1980 All-Ireland final win through injury, but did enough before and after to be in the top six, followed by Tony Keady, the powerhouse centre-back and Hurler of the Year in 1988.

The impact of the Canning family on Galway hurling is underlined by having two in the leading group, with Joe’s older brother, Ollie coming in at No 7. He is the only one in the top 16 to not have won an All-Ireland senior inter-county medal. He did, of course, win four All-Irelands with Portumna.

GALWAY HURLING

1. Joe Canning, 2. Joe Cooney, 3. John Connolly, 4. Pete Finnerty, 5. Conor Hayes, 6. Iggy Clarke, 7. Ollie Canning, 8. Tony Keady, 9. Noel Lane, 10. David Burke, 11. Dáithí Burke, 12. Sylvie Linnane, 13. PJ Molloy, 14. Gerry McInerney, 15. Michael Coleman, 16. Steve Mahon, 17. Damien Hayes, 18. Seán Silke, 19. Joe Rabbitte, 20. Eugene Cloonan

You can send your own top 20 list, as well as any issues or disagreements you might have with our rankings, to sportcomment@independent.ie

Click on your county below:

Galway hurling, Galway football, Leitrim football, Mayo football, Roscommon football, Sligo football

GAA Top 20: Canning, Cooney or Connolly - who is the greatest Galway hurler of the last 50 years?

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