Rough diamond Callanan begins to provide Tipp sparkle

Raymie Ryan remembers first clapping eyes on the "impatient, talented young fella" that was Séamus Callanan when he took over as manager of Drom & Inch ahead of the 2007 campaign.

Ryan, a Munster club medallist with Cashel King Cormacs in 1991, was a hell of player himself in his day and recognised a rough diamond when he saw one.

Ryan decided that it was time to set Callanan free. He was 18 at the time and the holder of an All-Ireland minor medal. But Ryan decided that it was time to release Callanan from the club confines of corner-forward.