Seamus Callanan has admitted that he walked away from the Tipperary senior hurling team with 'no regrets'. Callanan announced that he would be hanging up his boots this week after a glittering career with his home county.
The Thurles native is regarded as one of the county's best-ever hurlers and helped Tipperary win three All-Irelands - 2010, 2016, 2019 - and a National League title in 2008. He also won 'Hurler of the Year' in 2019 as Tipperary won their second All-Ireland under Liam Sheedy.
However, due to injury troubles in recent years, the 35-year-old's playing time has been shortened as a result. Callanan's last outing for his county was in this year's All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Galway.
A statement released on Tipperary.GAA.ie this week read, "After 16 years as a Tipperary senior hurler, I have decided to announce my retirement from Inter-County Hurling. Playing for Tipperary has always been a huge privilege for me, and I am very grateful to have had such an enjoyable career with so many great memories.
Explaining further on how hard it was to stop playing the game he loves, Callanan admitted it wasn't as hard as one would think.
"It was a difficult thing to do," he told RTÉ. "I had my mind made up for the last year, but at the same time, when it’s final, it’s a very difficult day.
"I have no regrets after it all. I gave everything I could to the Tipperary jersey, and I’m very proud of that and very happy with the contributions I made. I’ve made lifelong friends, and that’s genuine, people have been very good to me.
(inpho.ie/Ryan Brne)"I had a great time; it’s the best journey I was ever on, and here’s to the next chapter."
While playing, it's easy to let time pass you by and for every achievement to go without a moment's notice. Now that the 35-year-old Callanan has retired, it has finally dawned on him what he achieved with Tipperary.
"Until I announced the retirement, I never went there in my own head really," he said. "Because you're always chasing the next thing. The next championship match and the next performance and the next score or whatever it is.
"I think that until the curtain really came down on it and you finalized that you aren't going back and the messages come in and people prompt the memories.
"I can picture it clearly as if it's just today. Every moment, every step that I took that day [in 2019], and every person I met. It was so personal, and it is emotional.
"You know it's a sad day when you call the curtain down on your career. But to have those memories… I’ll never forget those times and all the people that I met that were so good to me through the years."
