Canning not in favour of Munster switch

Joe Canning is not in favour of Galway moving to the Munster hurling championship.

Galway have played in the Leinster SHC since 2009 but their minor and Under-21 side have not been afforded the same opportunity and in December clubs unanimously voted in favour of pursuing a single provincial structure.

Part of the motion also called for Galway to look for inclusion in the Munster championship from 2018 but Canning believes there would be little benefit in the Tribesmen moving south.

“I don’t see the benefit of going into Munster. What are we going to do? Munster mightn’t let us play home games either," Canning is quoted as saying in the Irish Examiner.

Canning fears the lack of competition at Under-21 level is having a knock-on effect on the senior side.

"It’s the underage thing, that the minors and U21s get more matches. They’re missing out on development." he added.

“I know the U21 is knock-out — you can get back in after losing one of the minor games — and some counties have just one game a year at U21 while other counties have four or five games throughout the year, developing all the time. Wexford, in the last few years, have won three Leinster titles.

"They have a serious crew coming through that have played seriously competitive matches. All of our guys, at 22, 23, have probably played three games over the last three years, four or five maybe, whereas you have another team playing 12. So there is a huge gap there in terms of development.”

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