2017 proved to be the year when Joe Canning was finally able to cast away the naysayers and hold the Liam McCarthy Cup aloft.
The Galway star joined Ger for an in depth chat at the Bord Gais Energy Under-21 Team of the Year awards about his season and the issues that impacted him during his career.
Canning has been in the public eye as a hurler of renown since his mid-teens and he spoke about the pressures that come with that, starting with the expectation to win an All Ireland at senior level which he was finally able to achieve with Galway in September.
"You're probably getting close to the end of your career and you know time is running out to win an All Ireland for all the people that say you'll never win one," he said.
"It's great to win one and have that, that nobody can say that to you anymore. It would be always a thing, 'You're nothing unless you win a senior All Ireland', no matter that I've won every other medal that there nearly is to win."
But other things have helped to put those expectations in perspective as he explained of the way a profound change has come since 2015.
"It was probably early 2015 really, maybe a little bit of 2014 when Mam and Dad got sick I suppose, that was really when more important things came," he said.
"There obviously is a human side to things and sport is only a hobby at the end of the day for me and for the rest of the guys. It wasn't just me, there were other guys, I suppose parents sick at the time as well and we all realised that we needed to enjoy the sport a bit more because you know the way it's gone so professional almost in a way now that sometimes the enjoyment is gone out of it if it's too regimental. You don't have a balance between playing and actually enjoying things outside of it then and making time for them kind of things."
He added that in addition, "It was the realisation that realistically not many people live past 100 or anything like that, so like, if you lost one of your parents at that time, it would have been horrific."
This article was brought to you in association with Bord Gáis Energy, putting you at the core of the action of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior and U-21 Championships – keep up to date and follow #HurlingToTheCore
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