Seamus Callanan: No resting on laurels in Tipperary

He’s the clear favourite to be named Hurler of the Year after a third successive nomination but Tipperary’s Seamus Callanan has insisted he can be even better next year. 

Thoughts in the Premier County are already turning to how they can push on in 2017 and launch a successful defence of their All-Ireland crown, something they failed to do in 2011 when they last defended the title.

It’s good news for a start that Callanan reckons there’ll be no retirements and he revealed that those who return next season will have a burning desire to improve.

“I still believe that there are more levels I can get to,” said the prolific full-forward, who always believed he could reach the heights he has reached.

“Definitely, I always fully believed. Being an inter-county player is hard, you have a lot of commitments. A lot of hard work goes into it. It’s basically a 12 months of the year thing. If you didn’t believe you were good enough to do it then you wouldn’t stay going year after year.

“I always fully believed there were levels that I could go to.”

As for his Tipp colleagues, Callanan said they are a seasoned bunch who won’t settle for fleeting success either.

“I think the panel is mature, we have been around long enough, we have seen enough of hurt at this stage, whereas we hadn’t seen as much in 2010,” said the Drom-Inch man.

“It is a place we don’t want to go again. The league fixtures were made last week and just shows how the thing rolls on.

“We are going to be the team that is aimed at. So we will have to get to higher levels again. We can’t be going out thinking that the performances of this year will be good enough again next year because they won’t be.

“And a lot of other teams will be coming back hungry next year too. Kilkenny will be back hungrier than ever.

“In my mind, they are going to be the benchmark as they have been for years.”