Hungry Shanahan shows his old class

HE never went away, you know.

Dan Shanahan, 2007 Hurler of the Year, finds himself back in the spotlight after a blistering seven-minute cameo.

The Lismore man, 32 now, admitted disappointment at not coming in earlier as younger brother Maurice tasted action 10 minutes into the second half.

Better late than never and what an impact from Big Dan, who created Shane Walsh’s crucial 68th-minute goal before winning the equalising free, converted by Eoin Kelly.

Shanahan said: “I was disappointed that I didn’t come on earlier but the lads that came in ahead of me did their jobs. When I got my chance, I said to myself I’d take it and I did.

“That doesn’t mean I’ll start the next day but if I can keep doing what I did when I came in, that will do me grand.”

Shanahan still insisted he never felt that he had a point to prove: “I owe Waterford nothing. It’s my 13th year of county hurling so I don’t think I owe anyone anything. I do it for myself and my family and the lads are a big thing in my life, inside in the dressing room there. It’s not about me or them – it’s all about us. We’ve been knocked this week in our own county and in other counties. We proved a point today.”

Shanahan conceded that not starting regularly can be frustrating: “I can’t say what the selectors and management are thinking. All I can do is train hard and work hard and support the lads. If I’m not starting, I go around the dressing room and give the lads the best support I can, the younger lads, Noel Connors, Maurice, Shane Casey. Maybe they’ll learn something off me. We have a young team, a young panel. The minors won (Munster final), the U21s won (Munster semi-final). They said hurling was dead in Waterford – it isn’t dead yet.”

Shanahan also insisted “there’s loads left in Waterford’s tank” and vowed there will be no residue from last September’s All-Ireland final mauling against Kilkenny when the sides meet again on August 9.

Shanahan said: “We’re there or thereabouts, Kilkenny will be hard to beat. We came back after being hammered in the All-Ireland final last year. We’ll go in as underdogs the next day and, hopefully, lads ... you never know.”