by Declan Rooney

Francis Forde knew Galway had a gem in Joe Canning when the then 13-year-old Portumna man destroyed the recently retired Turloughmore man in a county underage training session.

With an odd number at training it fell to team coach Forde to fill the final slot and he ended up marking Canning. A year younger than the rest of the squad Canning might have seemed like a guaranteed easy session, but Forde soon had his eyes opened.

In his late 20s, the former county star against a 13-year-old boy, what could possibly go wrong?

"The first time I really came across Joe, when we were playing a training match with the U-14s. I said I'd go in corner-back, so in I went to mark Joe Canning, just to keep it balanced," said Forde.

"Before I knew where I was Joe had about six points scored on me as a 13-year-old. That was my first introduction.

"Then I was also lucky enough to work with Mattie Murphy when Joe was a minor for three years, so I saw it first hand.

"Everyone talks about Joe as a hurler, but Joe as a person, his commitment and his attitude to training. I'd say in the three years I had him for minor I don't think he ever missed a session. His attitude was always that he wanted to get better and better and that's what people don't see.

"People see him in championship games and maybe in the last few years there has been pressure on Joe's shoulders, but Joe wants to be the best he can be. He has a great attitude, he is a great fella around the group and all the lads have great time for him. That's Joe as a person, not as a hurler."

Canning and Forde were reunited when Micheál Donoghue took charge of the county for the 2016 season and Forde was named selector, but their year ended in heartache when Canning was forced off injured at half-time in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tipperary.

Forde is not interested in speculating whether that horror hamstring injury cost Galway another All-Ireland final spot, but he says the challenge has always been for all Galway's forwards to reach new heights.

"People maybe look for the one reason you didn't win a game and maybe Joe is an easy target when things don't go well. This is a team sport, if things go well for your team everything is right, you might fall the wrong side of a result like the Tipperary game last year," said selector Forde.

"But we didn't look at that game and say we lost that game because Joe got injured. We looked at all the other things that could have done better on.

"There's been an element of trying to get him on the ball as much as possible (since we took over) but there's also been an element that you can't be leaving it to Joe Canning to take on that mantle all the time. What we've really done is challenged other players to step up on their performance.

"We analyse games and sometimes we have to be direct enough with guys in terms of performances not being good enough or needing to step up a level or show more leadership or take on more challenges for themselves.

"Maybe in the general public or the media or whatever, you're looking for that one reason and maybe even now people are looking for how are Galway suddenly playing better. I can't put my finger on it.

"We just look maybe for one percent here or two percent there and always looking to try and improve for the next day. There's no magic formula, I wish there was but it's just incremental little gains is what you're looking for all the time.

"Yeah, Joe is a super fella, in terms of his attitude, in terms of everything he does. But, at the end of the day, this is a team game and we need all 15 lads or 20 lads on any given day to be in the right frame of mind and bring a team performance."

While Canning will be Galway marked man this Sunday against Wexford, there is no doubt that Lee Chin will have the same attention for Davy Fitzgerald's side. Bot players now play similar play-making roles as the rove between the half-forward line and midfield in search of pockets of space, and Forde has his eye on the multi talented Chin.

I remember a few years ago I think Liam Dunne had a bit of difficulty trying to get him to focus solely on hurling because he was playing both there for a year or two. He's a real all-rounder.

"Athletically, physically, he's so imposing. Everyone has talked about that, but his hurling, as a hurler, his skills are just phenomenal as well and sometimes that gets lost a little bit. His sheer hurling ability is right up there with the very best but there are others."

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