Condensed season has become 'too much' according to recently retired Tipp great Callanan

Recently retired Tipperary senior hurler Seamus Callanan believes that the condensed season has become "too much" for intercounty players and hopes that there can be a return to the traditional championship structures.

Speaking on a podcast with former Sunday Game host Michael Lyster along with Cork hurling great Tomas Mulcahy earlier this week, Callanan spoke about his career in the blue and gold, his decision to retire recently, and he also went on to shoot the breeze about the way the championship season is laid out for hurler and the demands it is placing on the players.

"I think it has become too much," Callanan told Lyster bluntly during the interview.

"There is no way at this stage of my life that I could continue to do it. I have a very busy job, things going on at home, and I'm getting married next year.

"There is no way I could do what is expected of an intercounty hurler now and for me, it's the fact that you have to be in a certain place and a certain time, all the time.

"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday from six o'clock until half nine or ten in the evening, you're gone. And either you buy into it or you don't, but if you're there you have to buy into it," he said.

The former Hurler of the Year went on to highlight the social elements of the new season which he believes is hindering the social side of the commitment to play intercounty amongst the panel, saying that it is harder for teams and teammates to bond with such short turnarounds between championship games.

"Back in or even recently, you had three weeks, and sometimes four weeks between every Munster Championship match, and that meant you had the chance to go out and maybe have a few pints or whatever, but now you hardly get a chance to talk to a young lad who is only recently on the panel outside of training.

"When you go into training you are meeting each other loads but you're not actually spending any quality time together and getting to know lads.

"I think the condensed season is taking away the human aspect of it, where you actually get to bond and I'd be all for reverting it back to the way it was before," he admitted.

Beforehand, Callanan spoke about his decision to finally hang up his boots after an illustrious intercounty career with Tipperary and he revealed that the decision was made prior to the beginning of the 2023 championship season getting underway.

"It was a decision I made at the start of the year before I went back," he revealed.

"I met Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans on three different occasions at the start of the year about going back in for another year. I suppose I was unsure about going in again, but after the meetings with the lads I decided I'd give it another rattle for the year, and it was always the case that it was going to be just one year."

Asked about any regrets he had after having time to reflect on his career in the blue and gold, Callanan earmarked a few games and championship seasons where he felt he and his teammates left silverware behind them.

"I think we were unlucky not to have another two or three All-Ireland's under the belt," he said.

"The one that stands out to me most is probably the Galway match in the All-Ireland semi-final in 2015 where we lost by a point.

"I felt that that year we had an unbelievable team and that we were the best team in the country at the time. That's one where I look back and could say we might have left it behind us."