Déise legend Dan Shanahan was hurler of the year in 2007 and won three All Stars (2004, 2006 and 2007) but would cash them all in for a Celtic Cross. During his inter county days, he lost an All Ireland final in 2008 and seven semi finals.
"Would I swap all those awards for an All Ireland medal? Damn right I would. I always accepted my individual awards on behalf of my team mates. Every goal I got I had to be at the end of a ball from Stephen Molumphy or Tony Browne or Eoin Kelly or Clinton Hennessy making a save or Declan Prendergast making a hook. It wasn't about Dan Shanahan that year (2007), it was about us. I accepted any award I got on behalf of my team mates. People say to me that we were one of the best teams never to win an All Ireland but by god we died trying. We did everything we could to win one and we met teams that were better than us. We can bring it to our grave that we gave it everything we had in the years that Justin was there and Davy was there. We tried everything we could and it just didn't happen. To win those awards was unbelievable, for a man who comes from Lismore a small club in West Waterford to be to up there with the Henry Shefflins, but I accepted them on behalf of my team mates to be honest about it."
Shanahan struck 8-12 from play in the 2007 championship. Waterford lifted league and Munster trophies but missed out on the opportunity to oppose Kilkenny in the All Ireland showpiece. Limerick surprised them 5-11 to 2-15 in the last four at Croke Park. "If we got over Limerick, we would have been playing an unbelievable Kilkenny team again. I would have loved the opportunity to play Kilkenny in the All Ireland final with Justin in charge of us. I would love to know what Justin would have done if we got over Limerick or any semi final, what preparation he would have done going into the All Ireland final. He was a very shrewd manager and very good at getting lads right for big games. That's disappointing side of it that we didn't get to the final and see what Justin and ourselves would have done."
Listen back to the full interview with Dan Shanahan from Lár Na Páirce Hurling In The Years with thanks to PWC Waterford.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/wlrfm/dan2007mp3
