SEAMUS Hannon, who captained London last year for their record-breaking run to the Connacht final, chats to Niall O’Sullivan ahead of London’s SFC clash with Galway on Sunday.
You are returning from a history-making championship run and a disappointing league campaign. What is the mood like in London today?
We are confident. We have lost a few games, but we have gained some high quality footballers and the intensity of training has carried on where we left off. Obviously we have that bit more confidence going into the championship now.
Was the team’s league performance disappointing?
Yes. But the league is basically our pre-season. And I do not think it went as badly as people are saying. We got more points than we did last year. We also got a good win on the road, beating Waterford comfortably.
But what about a match like Carlow (when London fell away in the final 10 minutes despite holding a comfortable lead)? That did not look like a team that had grown in confidence and maturity.
We were well on top and we let them back in. Thanks be to God we managed to hold on for the draw, but it was a disappointing result alright. I definitely think we have matured from last year though.
Do you miss being captain?
No. When I was captain last year I don’t think it made any difference. The only difference was that I went in for the toss. There are so many leaders in the team, so everyone takes on the captain’s role.
Is there anything very different this year?
It is hard to keep dwelling back to last year because we need to move on. A lot has been taken on from last year, the personnel and the intensity of training. But the belief is higher. The lads expect more. We go out there expecting good results and we are very disappointed when we don’t get them.
We never really look for victories, we look for performances. We find that the players are taking more responsibility now. We are looking at each other and asking why we are not playing well.
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