Big Dan looks to take direct route

HE WAS in posh surroundings recently, was Waterford’s Dan Shanahan, in the lap of luxury as the Munster senior hurling championship was given an impressive and formal lift-off.

Should have been familiar surroundings also, Lismore Castle, around the corner from where Dan was reared, but no – this was just his second time inside the walls, and he was as struck as the rest of us.

“Ah stop, I’m lost here, just looking at it! We got a tour of the place a long time ago, when I was a young fella, but just to come in here today is fantastic. This is great for Lismore, it will put us on the map now, this launch.”

It was indeed a progressive step by the Munster Council, a progressive step also by the owners of the Castle – the Duke of Devonshire would hardly be seen as a patron of the GAA.!

It can’t be very far to the next step, surely, when Dan and his team-mates will be wearing ‘Lismore Castle’ across the front of their jersey? “I don’t think so!” laughs the big man, “We still have to go out and beg, but maybe if we put ourselves on the map we’ll get that sponsorship.”

Shanahan is proud of his west Waterford roots. Set in the beautiful Blackwater valley, Lismore is a hidden gem, yet with the river, the mountains, the forests and trails, it has so much to offer. Likewise when it comes to the hurling scene; Mount Sion, Ballygunner, and latterly De La Salle, those are the clubs that in recent years are best known in Waterford hurling, and with good reason, but west Waterford is also a traditional hurling hotbed.

“It is, we have a great rivalry with Ballyduff, up the road, with Tallow, Cappoquin, Shamrocks, all within a few miles of each other – there’s great hurling in west Waterford.”

Even down the road, in places like Ardmore which would always have been seen as football country, the dynamic is changing, hurling now to the forefront and producing players for the county team of the likes of the powerful Prendergast brothers Seamus and Declan, along with goalkeeper Clinton Hennessey.

“Definitely – even Fourmilewater, they’d be known mostly as a football club, The Nire, but I’ve seen them at underage in the last few weeks and they’ve come on in leaps and bounds. The hurling is getting stronger – in Waterford this year there are seven or eight clubs who could win the senior championship, which is great for Waterford hurling.”

One of those new breed is Dan’s own brother, Maurice, a hot prospect for some years now. “He’s a good young fella,” big brother allows, “19 – I remember when I was 19, a good few years ago now! He has a fair amount of skill and he’s getting bigger; Gerry Fitzpatrick (Waterford trainer) has him on the weights. He’s 6’4” of 6’5”. I have no worries about him, he’s big enough to look after himself.

“I’m over 30 and to be honest with you when you hit that stage you can struggle to get to the pace of the game, you might only get 50 minutes, and that’s why you need a big panel. We have that this year.”

“Over 30” is actually 32, and the man known as Big Dan has every reason to start feeling the effect of his years.

Hurler of the year in 2007, he’s been on the go with his county at senior level for nearly half his life.

“The time has flew. 2009 now, another championship just around the corner. Times have changed, the game has got unbelievably fast. I came on the panel in 1996, I was only a young fella, trained with the likes of Damien Byrnes (former Waterford full-back) and all those guys – you learned the hard way with those lads.

“I made my debut against Tipp in a league game in Thurles, ‘96, still a teenager, came on against Brian Flannery, who played for us afterwards.”

He took it easy on you, of course?

“He did yeah,’’ Shanahan joked. “All the Tipp lads would take it easy on you! But it was great, I’ve enjoyed my years with Waterford, a pleasure to put on that blue-and-white jersey. We’ve had good days, we’ve had bad days. There’s a great buzz around again, with the championship starting.”

In that Munster championship, Tipperary already having seen off Cork, Waterford face Limerick this Sunday in Thurles, the start of a long road back for Dan and his Waterford team-mates after last year’s All-Ireland final loss. A win this Sunday will make that journey shorter, however. “If you start losing games in championship it’s hard to get out of that rut. And it’s the shortest route – if you win the Munster semi-final you’re in the final, win that and you’re straight into the All-Ireland semi-final. That’s the way Kilkenny do it, why shouldn’t we all try it?”