Seamus Callanan admits Tipperary have much to do to return to hurling’s top table and avoid last year’s early championship exit.
Limerick are the benchmark for the rest after the Shannonsiders backed up their All-Ireland triumph of last year by winning the League title just recently.
“Yeah, they look good,” acknowledged Tipp ace Callanan. “They’re playing with huge confidence and working very hard.
“So they’re obviously the benchmark at the moment and the rest of us need to try and get up there.
“We have a lot of work to do before we can even think about dining at the top table.”
Callanan points out that Tipp were gone from the Munster championship on June 9 last summer - a disaster for the hurling-mad county.
He reflects on the Clare game when victory appeared to be in the grasp of the Premier men until a dramatic late turnaround.
Will that increase the hunger in the Tipp ranks this summer? “There has to be a hunger every year, no matter what happens” stated Callanan.
“You can only deal with the present. Everyone that’s in there is training hard all year and wants to win.
“That’s no different to any other year. It doesn’t matter if you’re in there one year or 10 years, you want to win every game you play and that’s the ultimate goal.
“When you stop wanting that it’s time to go home.
“It was a learning curve for everyone, last year, really. I suppose just trying to manage the bodies and keep them fresh between games is the big thing because the Munster championship is obviously going to be very tough again this year.
“It’s fierce competitive. It was very hard to be out of it that early but it’s a results driven business that we’re in.”
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