Tipperary Hurling captain Séamus Callanan. Photo: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Callanan happy to be back in the groove

After a frustrating year in which injury prevented him from being at his best, Seamus Callanan is hoping he can get back to his best form in 2019.

The new Tipperary captain under went a back operation in January of last year and while he returned in time for the championship, he was chasing his best form all through as the Premier County exited the championship at the round-robin phase.

It's frustrating but everyone gets injured, and you just have to deal with the hand you're dealt,” said the Drom & Inch man.

You just have to try and make the most of it. Unfortunately I only had a few weeks before the championship to start my preparation. All you can do is deal with that as best you can and try and push on as much as you can in those weeks to try and be ready if you do get the call to help out the panel.

At the moment it (the back) is good, thank God. Last year I was playing a bit of catch-up to try and get back in for the championship, but I have a good pre-season behind me now. Before I start worrying about performances, being able to train every night is brilliant.”

It was the first major injury in Callanan's career and he admitted it was difficult initially to deal with being on the sidelines and then the pace of recovery not as quick as he hoped, and while he played in all four championship games last summer, while the effort was there, the sharpness wasn't.

You can't feel sorry for yourself, that has to be your goal straight away,” he continued.

It's a week-by-week process until you can actually get back on the pitch, and creating your own little challenges along the way. That was my motivation."

 

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