Pádraic Mannion says Hurler of the Year award would not gloss over final loss
Thursday 1 November 2018 15:40, UK
Galway's Pádraic Mannion said winning Hurler of the Year would not gloss over the disappointment of losing the All-Ireland final.
The Ahascragh-Fohenagh club-man put in some remarkable performances throughout the summer and was recognised for his displays with a nomination for the top personal accolade in the game which will be announced on Friday night.
He is up against Cian Lynch and Joe Canning for the prize. However, the half-back doesn't feel it would be any consolation.
"I don't think so," he explained. "It's a personal accolade but the All-Ireland final is different.
"We all play for medals really."
"It's not something you aim for at the start of the year to get Player of the Year. I don't think there's too many players that do that but it'd be something you look back on and be very proud of when you've hung up the boots and something you could tell the grandkids about.
"It's nice to be nominated and nice to get a bit of recognition but it's not something that you put too much thought into as a player you're just trying to do all you can for the team and at the end of the year, if that leads to an award like that, it's just an added bonus that comes with it."
The hurt of the loss to Limerick in the decider still cuts deep for Mannion.
"It's awfully disappointing. With the two months, you get a bit more perspective on it.
"It's something you have to move on from. Everyone can't win the All-Ireland every year. That's the nature of sport."
While they almost mounted a dramatic comeback, Mannion feels that had Joe Canning's late free gone over, it would have been an unjust result for the Treaty.
"I was just hoping he (Canning) would either put it over or if it dropped in that someone with a Galway jersey was going to win it but I don't think it came down to that free really. It was the 50 or 60 minutes before that where the game was won and lost.
"That's just sport. Limerick were on top of us for the majority of the game but we were still able to pull it back and ultimately, you can be on top but if you're not putting the scores on the board. Limerick had built up too much of a lead and it was too hard to pull it back.
"Would we have deserved a draw on the day? Realistically, I don't know did we."
Mannion was speaking at an event to mark the departure of the Kilkenny and Galway teams, who fly to Australia to take part in a match for the Wild Geese Trophy as part of the Sydney Irish Fest on November 10/11, at the Australian Embassy in Dublin.
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