Picking out a particular incident in the 0-19 to 2-13 draw with the Cats, the Portumna man said: "I suppose they are a bit cuter.

"In one instance in the first half, Henry (Shefflin) ran 30 or 40 yards down the field and was giving out to (referee) Barry Kelly and Damien Hayes for a free.

"That's not sportsmanlike either at the same stage. That's the way it goes - that’s probably the experience they have.

"Hopefully we can get that and use it to our advantage as well. You need everything you can get during those games."

Using their vast experience to influence the referee in his decision making was a key factor according to Canning as Kilkenny came back from being 1-9 to 0-7 down at half-time.

"They got a lot of frees, got on top and Kilkenny will do that to you. It’s very hard to stem the tide against a side like Kilkenny, they got a few decisions at crucial stages.

"We did fine I thought, we got a goal to come back into it, we never downed tools, fought to the end."

The 23-year-old also suggested that Kilkenny defender JJ Delaney was annoyed that Shefflin elected to point a penalty effort rather than go for goal with the sides tied, late in the second half.

“JJ wasn’t too impressed anyway behind me! He thought he should have went for it as well," admitted Canning.

“People asked me after what I would have done. I probably would have went for a point as well because at that time of the game, a point was very crucial. If he missed it, people would have said: 'Why didn’t he tap it over the bar?'

“It’s a very thin line and he’s probably the most experienced player on the pitch. At the time, he thought it was the right thing to do.

“If it was saved and we went down the pitch and got a point or a goal, it could have swung things in our favour. He probably took the right decision at that time in the match.”

"He (Delaney) probably would have went for it himself. I'll just put it that way!"