Colm Callanan is back for more.
The 35-year-old reached the Holy Grail last year, when Galway ended a 29-year famine to lift Liam McCarthy. After that famous September Sunday, the inevitable retirement question was asked of him
It seemed a logical to bow out, on a high, at the peak. He’d soldiered for 11 years in the maroon and white. He led his tribe into battles for decades, suffering huge disappointments along the way.
It couldn’t really get much better, could it? He’d been there for that heartbreaking loss to Tipperary in 2010. That crushing defeat to Kilkenny in the 2015 decider. He’d won the elusive Celtic Cross, was it worth risking despair to go again?
Colm Callanan is honest. That was hard to take and he stared retirement in the face, then, just like he did in 2016 and 2017.
“I won’t lie, for the last three years, since 2015, I’ve been thinking ‘Will we go again?’
“I had good conversations with the management at the start of last year and thankfully I went back. I would have missed out on a fair bit,” he told us at the launch of the 2018 National Leagues.
He sure would have had, but despite all that’s being said about the rigorous and demanding lifestyle required to succeed at inter-county level, the Kinvara man is lapping it up.
He loves the buzz – travelling to training. He loves training. That’s why he’s ready to go at it again.
“But last week, the two nights I had training, even though they were tough sessions I really enjoyed it. You were away from everything again and in with the lads. That tells me it’s time to get back at it again,” he says.
Allianz hurling leagues launched with Derek McGrath, Colm Callanan, Seán McGrath & John Meyler. Best wishes to all teams & supporters.
Hurl, Sliotar,,,Action. pic.twitter.com/23EOKfWDh8— Aogán Ó Fearghail (@aoganofearghail) January 22, 2018
Callanan is one of the best goalkeepers in the game. As shot-stoppers go, there’s few better. His eye is always in. His agility and reflexes are always smart, and that’s what allows him to pull off saves like those below.
The opposition may be bearing down on goal, but they know, and the whole of Galway knows that they’ll have to do something special to ripple the net.
Peak Colm Callanan.Â
His ability to pull off these jumps and saves is no coincidence. Callanan works as a personal trainer in Kinvara. He’s well versed in all things body science, and he implements these in his training regime. Recently, he has taken up yoga.
Flexibility and agility is everything, and he attributes this to his fitness regime. Goalkeepers who struggle with their reflexes can learn a lot from this.
“There’s a lot of lads in the squad in better shape than I am. It does help obviously. When our fitness coach is telling us certain things, I know what he’s talking about straight away and it’s a little bit easier to grasp what’s going on.
“I would. It’s something (agility) I’m currently looking at trying to improve. I’ve been doing some yoga classes recently as well,” he said.
In hurling, strength and conditioning is different. Many make the mistake of performing work-outs similar to those of body-builders. It’s all based on movement and power, rather than brawn and sheer strength.
“Any strength and conditioning coach worth their salt will know how to tailor a programme towards maximising a player’s skill as opposed to making people big and strong.
“Recovery is probably the buzz word around any inter-county setup now.
“Clubs are trying to cling on to everything that’s going on at inter-county level, in terms of recovery and how players look after themselves off the field between games. It’s probably good to have an inside track I suppose.”
And he has that inside track.
He used to work as a traffic management safety officer in Athlone, and that wasn’t at all conducive to playing for Galway.
“It was tough work. I was getting out of work early getting down to Athenry training, getting back at 11.30 at night basically walking into the room, already asleep. Getting up again in the morning at seven, it just culminated in getting a phone call in the winter of 2011 when Anthony Cunningham came in to say I wasn’t going to be part of the panel in 2012.
His worth to this squad was soon realised, however, and he was brought back in.
“I was lucky enough to get my foot back in the door, things had to change.
“It was just doing the course and I liked it so much that I saw an opening in my hometown as well. Kinvara never had a gym before since I came down there with one. A couple of things were driving that, but the change in the work environment was definitely one.”
And now he’s hungry for more.
Allianz and the GAA announced the renewal of Allianz’s partnership with GAAGO which will make over 50 live Allianz League matches available to global audiences. In attendance at the Allianz Hurling League 2018 launch at Croke Park in Dublin is Cork manager John Meyler.
