Ruairi Canavan cherishing chance to play all grades for Tyrone

Ruairi Canavan is thrilled to have the opportunity to represent Tyrone at both under-20 and senior level this season, following a recent change to GAA rules.

Canavan says it's important to him to be able to play with the group of friends he has progressed through the Tyrone academy with and represent the county at U-20.

The Errigal Ciaran youngster, a precocious forward talent, has little to prove in this year’s EirGrid under-20 grade after winning Footballer of the Year at that level last season.

But he is adamant that the buzz of playing games is what drives him on.

"I get the buzz from playing games with boys I have been training with and friends with for years," the younger son of Tyrone great Peter tells RTE Sport.

"I love getting to the pitch with a few footballs to kick about with my brother, cousins and teammates. It is important for me to play Under-20.

"I came up through the ranks with a good lot of coaches and players and it was class last year when we got a bit of a reward but we will push on again now hopefully."

Tyrone meet Down at the end of the month in the Eirgrid U-20 Ulster championship. Soon after Canavan, and brother Darragh, will be in senior provincial action with the county.

The lethal young attacker hit 1-04 from play and 1-07 in total as Paul Devlin's side beat Brian Flanagan’s Kildare in the 2022 All-Ireland final.

A week earlier he hit 0-08 in the semi-final against Kerry. That was in keeping with his general prowess in front of the posts as he accumulated 1-34 across five games in the Ulster and All-Ireland series.

Getting the top young players to play in this competition has not always been simple. Until recently the GAA applied a rule effectively preventing youngsters who had played senior