GALWAY'S goalkeeper when they last won Liam McCarthy, John Commins, reckons it's about time the next generation were rewarded for their talents.
Commins, with two All-Ireland senior titles under his belt, is well used to slaps on the back and rehashed memories of the glory days, but he thinks the time is nigh for Galway to be on top again.
It's 27 years since Galway last won the All-Ireland hurling title and after five failed outings in Croke Park finals since 1988, Commins thinks it could be Galway's turn again and all the trappings of success can be shifted to this group.
“The shoulders are getting heavy now at this stage carrying it. It has been too long since we won a senior title,” said Commins.
“This bunch of lads, they were there in 2012 so there is no reason why not. They’ll have to beat the best team in the country for the last how many years but they have the opportunity.
“People are saying Kilkenny are unbeatable – there is no team unbeatable. At some stage they will have to get beaten. Hopefully it will be this year.
“Since 1988 is a long, long time. 2005, at times in that game against Cork, you imagined you were going to win it. In 2012 against Kilkenny, Henry’s performance that day in the second-half alone was just unreal.
“All of that stuff is in the history books – we’re in the present now. This is a huge, huge ask for the boys, but it’s also a huge opportunity.”
As one of Galway's finest goalkeepers, Commins was seriously impressed with Colm Callanan's display against Tipperary in the semi-final.
He sees him and his own Gort club-mate Aidan Harte as key men for Galway.
“Colm, he’s been brilliant. He distribution is class, he has a very good puck-out, he can alter it – hit it high, hit it flat.
“His agility and flexibility is class – the save he made from Lar Corbett was probably the winning save of the match. If that went in at that stage the game was probably over. To me he is by far the best keeper in the country at the moment.
“Aidan is a super hurler, a super athlete. What I’ve noticed about him in the last year and a half is that he’s got so strong, he's in super condition.
“I’d be in touch with Aidan most weeks. Being a club man I’d text him and Greg Lally before matches.
“We’d an U13 match where my young lad was playing there the day after the lads beat Tipp and the boys were carrying water, carrying hurls, in the dressing room with the young lads – that’s what the club is about.”
Commins will have a busy afternoon on Sunday as selector and goalkeeping coach to the Galway minor team, but he is confident the experience of losing the 2012 All-Ireland to Kilkenny will stand to Anthony Cunningham's side.
“I would give them a huge chance. We have forwards that would bother any backs in the country. We’ve a top class goalkeeper in Colm – he was outstanding the last day – and our backs are well able to hurl.
“There have been lost opportunities. There have been games we should have won and didn’t win.
“Coming with the current bunch: most have been there in 2012, they have the experience of a final, they know what it is like to sit in the dressing room after losing an All-Ireland.
“Please God they will know on Sunday what it is like to sit in one having won an All-Ireland.”
