Both Darragh and Ruari Canavan have been ruled out of the opening two weekends of the National Football League, which is set to get underway on Saturday.
The Tyrone stalwarts were both treated for concussion after Errigal Ciaran's loss to South Dublin outfit Cuala in last Sunday's All-Ireland senior club championship final in Croke Park.
The elder statesman of the two and Errigal's captain, Darragh was taken off the field just twenty-two minutes into the All-Ireland final when his head collided with the knee of Cuala's Danny Conroy as they were scrambling for the size 5, Canavan making his best attempt to recover the ball from the ground.
While his younger brother Ruairi managed to finish out the game on the field, manager Enda McGinley noticed something amiss after the final whistle and sent the younger Canavan to hospital for tests.
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19 January 2025; Darragh Canavan of Errigal Ciarán leaves the field along with manager Enda McGinley during the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final match between Cuala and Errigal Ciarán at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Canavan brothers ruled out for at least two weeks
While both Darragh and Ruari are reported to be 100% now, the GAA's Concussion Guide typically requires players to take a minimum of fifteen days to complete the full rehabilitation strategy and return to play. Although the 15 days is intended as a guide, depending on how players progress through their rehab, it can be as long as one-month post-concussion.
Despite now being ruled out of Tyrone's league opener against Derry this weekend, in all likelihood, the Canavans would've been offered time off anyway to recover from the season which for finalists and semi-finalists only concluded this side of Christmas.
Speaking to Andy Watters of the Irish News, Errigal Ciaran manager Enda McGinley revealed that he knew immediately how bad Darragh Canavan's knock was, but that he only noticed Ruairí's after the final whistle had blown.
Darragh came off and he was groggy, he took a knee to the head, unfortunately. It happened close enough to me and when I went out to him I knew it was probably serious enough. You just can’t take risks with that.
Ruairi was the first player I went to after the match and he was well out of it. I’m not sure when he got hit, but unfortunately he was well dazed.
The injuries capped off what was a disappointing day for Errigal Ciaran as they fell short 3-14 to 1-16 against now-champions Cuala, with their near-miraculous comeback from a thirteen-point deficit proving just deficient in getting them over the line.
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