He’s a shoo-in for his second straight All Star and a contender for Hurler of the Year, only Pádraic Mannion is not for budging.
Nothing about 2018 will compare to the previous year for the Galway defender as he concedes that this year’s All-Ireland final and all that came with it belongs to Limerick.
There is still the consolation prize of next week’s trip to Australia, Galway heading Down Under along with Kilkenny having won the right to contest the inaugural Wild Geese Trophy.
That match is set for Sunday week, November 11th, at the Showground Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park; for Galway it was the reward for winning the 2017 All-Ireland final, while Kilkenny earned their tickets as 2018 Allianz League champions, the game a centrepiece to the two-day Sydney Irish Festival.
Mannion will first attend this evening’s All Star awards in Dublin before heading out with the Galway panel next Monday.
One of nine Galway players nominated for an All Star, he’s also up for the Hurler of the Year along with team-mate Joe Canning, and Limerick midfielder Cian Lynch, who is fancied to take that award for his role in steering the county to their first All-Ireland in 45 years.
Nothing about Mannion’s 2018 performance in the Galway defence was anything less than 2017; he was possibly even more consistent. But still it was Limerick’s year, so there’s no great regrets only the realisation the best team won on the day.
“It was disappointing, but we’ve had a good few weeks now to put things in perspective and try and start to move on,” said Mannion, speaking at the Australian embassy on St Stephen’s Green.
“It’s disappointing when you lose any game by a point – you think what if I had done this and what would I had done that – but that’s sport you just have no choice but to move on.
“Limerick, for a young team they grabbed the chance with both hands, and a big thing for a young team is can they get a good start and they hit the ground running straight away and it was left up to us to see if we could get to their level. We probably did eventually but it was too late.”
Favourites’ tag
Did the favourites’ tag weigh down on Galway?
“I don’t think it had any impact. We had dealt with that every match right through so it was nothing really new. You don’t want to be making excuses. I don’t want to be sitting here and saying if we didn’t have the replays [the Leinster final against Kilkenny, and All-Ireland semi-final against Clare] we would have won it.
“Just because we won it last year doesn’t mean that teams are going to lie down and hand it over. It probably benefitted us as well, so I don’t know. It is hard to put it down to one point in the season.”
A teacher at St Cuan’s College Castleblakney, in Ballinasloe, Mannion will take two weeks’ leave for the Australia trip along with a mostly full-strength Galway panel including Joe Canning and manager Micheál Donoghue. However a few players may miss out depending on the outcome of this weekend’s Galway hurling semi-finals (Sarsfields play St Thomas, and Cappataggle face Liam Mellows).
“There’s a lot of people taking unpaid leave, that’s just the nature of it. You don’t want to miss the chance to play a game in Australia but there are a few caught with work and college but the majority can go. I haven’t full hours with the teaching this year but my principal is very understanding and is a massive hurling supporter.”
Galway will also have a team holiday to San Francisco, from St Stephen’s Day, another small consolation perhaps. Winning the Hurler of the Year award might also help break the fall but again Mannion doesn’t deny Limerick are the frontrunners there as well.
“Look it, it is down to the players, whomever they feel is worthy of it. Cian Lynch, having won the All-Ireland final, he is probably [favourite], more often than not, it goes to the player that wins the All-Ireland final. I am not going to worry too much about it.
“It is nice to have a good few Galway lads up there. The one last year was very good, there were 14 of us [nominated] . It is always a great night, lads are more relaxed and they can chat to each other.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s not something I put much thought into it [the Hurler of the Year]. It’s other people’s opinion, and if more Galway people were voting there would be a bias, and Limerick would be biased also. It’s something you’d be very proud of looking back, when you’re finished hurling, but we’ll see what happens.
“I felt I was as consistent last year. This year with the more games, it gives more time for players to be in the limelight, to prove yourself. But I’ve said before it’s games you might get man of the match you’d look back and think you made a lot of mistakes, and games when you could get some criticism, you thought you’d done well. It depends what you judge yourself off.”
