I play every game as if it’s my last
MANNION WON’T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED..
EXAMS IN MUNSTER AND LEINSTER
And the Ahascragh Fohenagh club man isn’t talking about his younger brother Cathal, a fellow Tribe star.
Rather he means a third brother, Ciaran, who was a talented Galway underage player back in the mid-2000s before injuring his cruciate three times.
Ciaran is teaching in Shanghai now and has had to leave hurling in his rear view mirror, a life lesson that hasn’t been lost on Padraic.
He said: “It shows you can’t take anything for granted. I had a good few injuries myself, I didn’t play at U-21 level so I know there is a fine line between being injured and being involved.
“Any day you go out to play you can get injured and miss out.
“Like, Paul Killeen did his cruciate last year and missed the Championship. In fairness to him he’s back pushing for a place again. But these things can easily happen.”
Asked if he felt Ciaran would have made his name with the Galway seniors, Padraic nodded.
He said: “Oh yeah, definitely. He was definitely a better player than I was anyway.”
That’s not to say Padraic isn’t in good form and in command of the jersey he nailed down last summer.
His high fielding was a feature of last year’s Leinster final win over Wexford and he’s aiming for a repeat today as Galway chase back to back titles.
Mannion said: “No matter if you put three points over the bar there is always stuff you can work on from the previous game. I would always be trying to improve all the time. You are never at the perfect level where you can’t improve.”
Galway have already beaten Kilkenny once this summer, in the new round robin section.
But topping the Cats twice in any calendar year is no easy feat, although Mannion said they’re not getting hung up on that.
He said: “The way the format is, you were always going to have to play a team twice if you reached the final. It is the same in Munster – Clare and Cork played in the first round and are meeting in the final also.
“Look, Kilkenny have set the standard for so many years in hurling and you couldn’t but have massive respect for them.
“When I was growing up they were the team that were winning All-irelands year in, year out and you have to have respect for that.
“It was great to get a result over them in the round robin but when it comes to a provincial final, Kilkenny aren’t going to be too concerned with who they are playing. And I don’t think we’re too concerned with who we are playing. You are just going out to focus on your own performance.
“What happened previously in the round robin section isn’t going to influence what will happen in a Leinster final.”