Dan Shanahan

Daysha

Worthy of its own thread this one.

Dan Shanahan has confirmed his retirement from inter-county hurling today. The Lismore man scored a total of 21-58 in 52 games spanning 13 Championship seasons. He won 4 Munster titles, 3 All-Stars (04, 06, 07), a National Hurling League and was named the 2007 Hurler of the Year when he scored 8-12 from play in just 5 games.

To me Dan the Man epitomised everything we can associate with Waterford hurling these last 10-12 years. He was always one of the first on the team for the fist-pumping, badge-kissing celebrations, but that's the way he played. He wore his heart on his sleeve and the fans loved him for that. And while he was slated from pillar to post when not firing on all cylinders, one thing you could never question was his commitment and at the top of his game he was nearly unstoppable.

Perhaps most telling of all was his contribution to 3 of our Munster wins. In the 2004 final he scored our second goal to set us on our way to that famous win (skip to 5.50). 3 years later he hit a hat-trick against Limerick (goal 1, goal 2 and goal 3), and then of course last month he scored the decisive winning goal against Cork to give us our 9th Munster title.

Some will point towards his inconsistency and many will view his lack of an All-Ireland medal as a taint on his record, but think about how far the county has come since he made his debut in 1998. Back then we had no Munster title since 1963 and hadn't even played in Croke Park for nearly 30 years, but what followed was the most successful decade for Waterford in a generation and the role he played during that period was absolutely huge.

Thanks for everything Dan!

Diabhal Beag

His name shall forever be remembered in music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCd8zDzb5lM

jonnybravo

Ah I'll miss the chants of "Dans the man, if he can't do it no one can".

Bill2673

He's the closest thing i can remember in either hurling or gaelic football to the predator type striker that comes along once in a while in the soccer arena.....the Gerd Muller of GAA.

Many of the most exciting games in the past decade had Dan at the centre of them.

Royal Seahawk

A massive loss to the world of hurling. A great character for the game and an exceptional talent. Such a shame he didn't get the All-Ireland medal to cap it all off.

buckwheat

Great player, pity he never got an AI medal.

Heard him interviewed on Newstalk yesterday evening. Jesus there's no love lost between him and Davy Fitz is there, never realised that.

chinguetti

Well thanks for the many happy memories Dan.

The best 3 in my opinion are the 3 goals against Clare in 2004, the 2 goals against Cork in the QF replay of 2007 and this year's Munster Final replay. Nothing like the sight of a billowing net and Dan, with the arm outstretched, running towards the crowd tugging the jersey.

They'ld be times you'ld be driven mad by him on the pitch. A great guy to speak his mind and some of his interviews are priceless esp the one after beating Tipp in 1998 (he replied to every question with ' tis fierce' as an answer) and his interview after the 2007 drawn QF. Dan on the Sunday Game would be worth the licence fee alone.

Many hurlers haven't won a Celtic Cross so i don't think we should get too hung up on that. Remember from 1998 to 2010, Waterford have been up there nearly every year and that has been a massive change since the mid 60s and the low point of the mid 90s.

Many happy days to you Dan and safe driving on the oil lorry.

phkk

Thanks for the memories Dan, a great player over the years....great man to get the killer goals to sink teams. It's a pity Dan,T Browne, Ken McGrath,Brick Walsh don't have AI medals,most deserving of at least one for all their endeavours

aidan24326

phkk wrote: »

Thanks for the memories Dan, a great player over the years....great man to get the killer goals to sink teams. It's a pity Dan,T Browne, Ken McGrath,Brick Walsh don't have AI medals,most deserving of at least one for all their endeavours

Indeed they are, but it shows that you don't get anything because you 'deserve' it. Sport isn't always fair. In spite of having all those great players Waterford always seemed to come up just a little bit short. But it must be said that they gave some great entertainment and were involved in some of the great games of the last decade, and Dan Shanahan was at the centre of most of it.

Another great player, Ollie Canning, also retired this year without an All-Ireland medal, so obviously not all the great players get their hands on one.

But Shanahan was terribly inconsistent, and I think the fact that he scored a few high-profile match winning goals often glossed over that fact. Best of luck to him anyway, it was probably the right time for him to go. I expect Ken McGrath will probably follow.

ShamoBuc

Savage hurler always gave it his best shot, wore his heart on his sleeve, a pleasure to watch.

Bill2673

Waterford have won 4 munster titles in the past decade. Thats one more than Tipp or Cork. For my money, the munster hurling title is the biggest of all provincial titles, hurling or football. So not to be sniffed at.

And Dan was crucial to at least two of those wins.

Plus, the Waterford Cork rivalry in the past decade was a spectacle in its own right and will live long in the memory. The Waterford Cork semi final in 2006 was one of the most exciting games I've ever been at.

aidan24326

Bill2673 wrote: »

The Waterford Cork semi final in 2006 was one of the most exciting games I've ever been at.

Surely the final in 2004 was the pick of the bunch.

flahavaj

Thanks for the memories Dan, you owe us nothing. A man that despite getting a whole load of unfair criticism, will go down in history as one of the great goalscorers of the modern era. When he was on form he was almost unplayable and had a rare knack of tucking the sliotar into the coprner of the net. 21 goals in the modern game is quite the achievement.

My favourite memory of him was the day he destroyed tipp on his own in Croker, scoring 1-6 from play - think it was 2006 or 2007 maybe? One of the finest displays I've ever seen from a Waterford forward and a day that he proved he could score great points as well as great goals. Everything he touched that day turned to gold.

Things will seem strange without the big Lismore man next year. If his brother becomes half the player that Dan was he'll be some hurler.

cremeegg

See ya Dan. was some hurler.

suitcasepink

Even in his last few years tbf he played a big part with us..
This yea the replay getting the goal in the 2nd half on extra time.
In the 65th(ish) minute against Galway he got the ball made and made the pass for Shane Walsh's goal.
The year before against Wexford in the Quarter final, (another game we were tight in) he got a goal near the end.
Then of course 2007 where he was Hurler of the Year.

He hasnt done it as often for us in the last few years, but feck it he still got goals at crucial times and he really is such a nice person, real genuine guy!

JohnDeere2010

Sorry guys, but I totally disagree.
For me Dan Shanahan has done very little for the game.
Ok he got hurler of the year, mostly for a few lucky goals that year.
From then on.....................
I have to say nothing worth even talking about.
That for me is a poor sign of any sports person to get such an award and not follow it up with any form wort talikin about.
In fact he didnt even get a chance to stretch the crest on the jersey :mad::mad::mad::mad: POOR DAN
For me................. No loss at all to the game!

comeraghs

JohnDeere ... you are fair full of ****e .... Dan has three all-stars & 4 Munster championship medals ....He is a gentleman & a top class hurler & anybody who knows anything about the game will tell you that.

JohnDeere2010

I never mentioned that the chap is anything less than a gentleman.
As far as the hurling goes I am speaking from a Non Bla point of view and Its clear that this guy followed up his hurler of the year status with nothing worth talking about.
Its fair to say that hurling people the lenght and breath of the country were sick to the teeth looking at him pulling the jersey more like those toss pots accross the water playing soccer.
Im sure Dan is a Gentleman:)

GoWesht

Have to say ive never liked the chap, came across as an absolute pwick and what he did to Justin McCarthy was disgraceful

jacko1

If you dont know me- dont judge me !

Legend

JohnDeere2010

jacko1 wrote: »

If you dont know me- dont judge me !

Legend

Fair enough not to Judge People but everybody is entitled to an opinion of him on the field.
As regards the "legend" thing.................... I dont think he will be remembered as a Hurling Legend.
But maybe doing something else down Lismore way:)

Ephie

jacko1 wrote: »

If you dont know me- dont judge me !

Ha, only Dan could have a tattoo like that! I'm not from the Deise but I'll certainly miss him playing. Best of luck Dan

Fentdog84

Its a pity because he could probably keep going for another year or two albeit as an impact sub.. sounds like his relationship with Davy has been the deciding factor..thanks for the memories Dan you were a pure goal machine who gave us magical entertainment over the years & terrorised oppositions defences.. will miss ya boy!!

Mulan

He wasn't fit last year and should have put the head down and got fit for this year but didn't. Davy fitz had to see this, hence not getting game time
To be fair "Big Dan" has left his mark in hurling history, he broke our hearts a few times

Mullane is the legend in my opinion

A Corkmans tupence worth!

chinguetti

Isn't it amazing how some people can't avoid taking the effort it takes to post on a topic just to bad mouth someone on their retirement and say that they weren't that good after all. Wouldn't it be better to say nothing at all!

By the way have you scored 19-29 in senior inter county hurling John Deere?

dirtyden

Big Dan lit up the summer in 2007, the year of his hurler of the year award. He was a fine hurler and great character within the game. His form has dipped since then but I feel he could possibly have been used more this year.

Don't know him but in print and interviews always came across as a decent skin.

He will be missed.

GoWesht

chinguetti wrote: »

Isn't it amazing how some people can't avoid taking the effort it takes to post on a topic just to bad mouth someone on their retirement and say that they weren't that good after all. Wouldn't it be better to say nothing at all!

By the way have you scored 19-29 in senior inter county hurling John Deere?

Isn't it amazing how some people can't avoid taking the effort it takes to post on a topic just to bad mouth another poster . Wouldn't it be better to say nothing at all!

chinguetti

GoWesht wrote: »

Isn't it amazing how some people can't avoid taking the effort it takes to post on a topic just to bad mouth another poster . Wouldn't it be better to say nothing at all!

Ah touche

tom thum

aidan24326 wrote: »

But Shanahan was terribly inconsistent, and I think the fact that he scored a few high-profile match winning goals often glossed over that fact.

id definitely agree with that. someone said he scored 21 goals i think , and scored 8 of them in one season. thats points directly at inconsistency, if his intercounty career lasted 13 years. so on average for the other 12 years he scored.9230769 goals a season.

tom thum

comeraghs wrote: »

JohnDeere ... you are fair full of ****e .... Dan has three all-stars & 4 Munster championship medals ....He is a gentleman

i think Johndeere is entitled to his opinion , whether u like it or not. and no one said that dan WASNT a gentleman. but being a gentleman or not has nothing to do with form.

deisedude

JohnDeere2010 wrote: »

Ok he got hurler of the year, mostly for a few lucky goals that year.

I laughed my arse off at this. You must be fair ignorant if you think anyone can get 8-12 from play in a season by being lucky.

It was a joy to watch Dan at his peak. His form in 2007 was the most exhilarating i have seen from any forward

Ricardo G

tom thum wrote: »

id definitely agree with that. someone said he scored 21 goals i think , and scored 8 of them in one season. thats points directly at inconsistency, if his intercounty career lasted 13 years. so on average for the other 12 years he scored.9230769 goals a season.

Ahh you again...:rolleyes: You just can't stay away when it comes to knocking the Deise or anything to do with Waterford, you seem to have a negative streak. I presume this thread was started to celebrate Big Dan's retirement and honour the work and effort he put in over the years ! if you want to start a thread disrespecting the Deise players than go ahead but please do us all a favour and stop trying to wind everyone up.

Anyway I wish Dan goodluck in the future, hope he continues to play a part in hurling for as long as possible, i'm living in Dungarvan and i love to see the kids faces light up when they see Big Dan around the town, he is a hero and inspiration amongst the young and well respected throughout the county and will not be replaced easily

liogairmhordain

a fine hurler.
i would say he reached his peak in 2007 (at the age of 30), around the time of the 2 cork games in croke park.
the goal he drove across cusack at the hill 16 end (drawn game) was bettered only by the one he scored at the same end with a ground stroke in the replay.
i hope he gets to win another county title with lismore before his time with the club comes to an end.
he won his only one to date in 1993, half a lifetime ago now for him.

tom thum

Ricardo G wrote: »

Ahh you again...:rolleyes: You just can't stay away when it comes to knocking the Deise or anything to do with Waterford, you seem to have a negative streak. I presume this thread was started to celebrate Big Dan's retirement and honour the work and effort he put in over the years ! if you want to start a thread disrespecting the Deise players than go ahead but please do us all a favour and stop trying to wind everyone up.

if u look at that again you will see its all fact. numbers dont lie. i justed posted the numbers.

deisedude

tom thum wrote: »

if u look at that again you will see its all fact. numbers dont lie. i justed posted the numbers.

Shefflin has scored 23 goals and they have both been around about as long. For arguments sake lets take away the goals he has scored from frees and penalties and only count goals from open play which will leave him with a few less than Dan but i suppose he isn't a good player either:rolleyes:

Your use of "facts" is akin to a drunk mans use of a lampost; more for support than illumination

Magi11

tom thum wrote: »

id definitely agree with that. someone said he scored 21 goals i think , and scored 8 of them in one season. thats points directly at inconsistency, if his intercounty career lasted 13 years. so on average for the other 12 years he scored.9230769 goals a season.

This really is such an over simplification of Dan's career.Although he was on the panel since 1998, he didn't really get a regular starting berth until 2004. Since that year Davy Fitz has barely used him even though he bailed them out with a typical goal in the Munster Final. Its very hard to score goals from the subs bench. Now go do the math.
In 2007, he was inury free and Waterford were playing a style of hurling that suited him. To win Hurler of the Year, without even reaching the Final is a hell of an achievement.
Fair play Dan. Even though the goal you set up against Galway last year cost me a lot of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the hurlers that caused a wave of excitement when they got the ball.

dotsflan

Dan will be missed! Being an offaly man I used to love travel to any waterford matches in thurles to see him, mullane, mcgrath, browne all great sportsmen. wont be the same with no big dan! Maybe maurice will fill his boots in time??

tom thum

deisedude wrote: »

Shefflin has scored 23 goals and they have both been around about as long. For arguments sake lets take away the goals he has scored from frees and penalties and only count goals from open play which will leave him with a few less than Dan but i suppose he isn't a good player either:rolleyes:

Your use of "facts" is akin to a drunk mans use of a lampost; more for support than illumination

as i said. just posting the numbers. i didnt mention shefflin.

deisedude

tom thum wrote: »

as i said. just posting the numbers. i didnt mention shefflin.

You said Dan was inconsistent and pointed out that his goalscoring return was proof of this. I merely compared his record to arguably the greatest forward of all time to show his goal scoring record is top notch

derealbadger

deisedude wrote: »

You said Dan was inconsistent and pointed out that his goalscoring return was proof of this. I merely compared his record to arguably the greatest forward of all time to show his goal scoring record is top notch

yes and your comparison didn't help your argument

a Ferrari and a Lada both have 4 wheels but any further comparison is just silly

toxicity234

sad to see him leave the game without an A.I Medal.
John M, Tony Browne and himself are 3 great leaders on that waterford team

GoWesht

toxicity234 wrote: »

sad to see him leave the game without an A.I Medal.
John M, Tony Browne and himself are 3 great leaders on that waterford team

How can Dan be called a great leader when all he seems to do is cause rifts in the squad and fall out with managers? What he did to Justin Mac was beyond disgraceful and he seems to be doing his best to do away with Davie now in the press!

Dan was a decent hurler in his day but ive never respected him and he'll never be a great leader

sonnky

good hurler but too moody

tom thum

deisedude wrote: »

Shefflin has scored 23 goals and they have both been around about as long. For arguments sake lets take away the goals he has scored from frees and penalties and only count goals from open play which will leave him with a few less than Dan but i suppose he isn't a good player either:rolleyes:

Your use of "facts" is akin to a drunk mans use of a lampost; more for support than illumination

shefflin started in 1999 on the senior panel. at the end of the dublin game this year he had scored 22 goals, 382 points. dan has 21 - 58 since 1998. so , henry has 325 scores more than dan. theres ur gulf in class. if you want to go comparing them. after all, it was u that mentioned shefflin in the first place.
and dont bother using frees as an excuse. if dan was any good at taking them, he would have been taking them.

Diabhal Beag

tom thum wrote: »

shefflin started in 1999 on the senior panel. at the end of the dublin game this year he had scored 22 goals, 382 points. dan has 21 - 58 since 1998. so , henry has 325 scores more than dan. theres ur gulf in class. if you want to go comparing them. after all, it was u that mentioned shefflin in the first place.
and dont bother using frees as an excuse. if dan was any good at taking them, he would have been taking them.

Frees are an important part of Shefflin's game. He is great but the majority are from frees. Dan was never going to get the chance because on Paul Flynn and Eoin Kelly were amazing free-takers.

liammur

Shanahan on his day was as good a forward as i've seen. I partly guessed tipp were going to do a number on waterford, and 1 of the reasons why was over reliance on mullane. Davy fitz should have played shanahan a lot more.

KevIRL

Farwell Dan. Thanks for all the great great on field memories. Part of a team that were so enjoyable to watch (and nervewracking as a Waterford fan). The tactic of '**** the defense, we'll score more than them' only really worked when Big Dan was on form. As well as getting goals he got some great points ad on some occasions kept us in the game with his points.

He was responsible for some great quotes as well - Diarmud O sullivans fat arse sat on the ball, Asking O Hailpin were they talking tactics when Cork delayed coming out on the field, and of course his 'work work work' interview.

A fond memory for me involving Big Dan was during the 2007 QF replay (and the second summer of Dan) against Cork....Early on Dan missed a point that he probably should have got. A Cork supporter in one of those redic Peoples republic t-shirts 2 rows in front of where we were turned around shouting "ooooooooh Dan the Man, Dan the Man", mocking us. I remember thinking, its early days yet buddy. 10 mins later, Dan had the ball in the net and later again for a second. The slagging of Cork guy was tremendous! To top it off he headed away with about 4 mins to go with Cork beaten to a chorus of Cheerio cheerio

Thanks for it all Dan.

deisedude

tom thum wrote: »

shefflin started in 1999 on the senior panel. at the end of the dublin game this year he had scored 22 goals, 382 points. dan has 21 - 58 since 1998. so , henry has 325 scores more than dan. theres ur gulf in class. if you want to go comparing them. after all, it was u that mentioned shefflin in the first place.
and dont bother using frees as an excuse. if dan was any good at taking them, he would have been taking them.

So basically what you are saying now that any player who doesnt take frees is ****. Its not comparing like with like and you know it. The only reason you commented in this thread was to wind up people anyway. I don't know why i'm wasting my time replying to be honest

detective

A great hurler and a nice guy. As a Limerick man he broke my heart in the 2007 Munster final with them three goals. I think Richie Bennis left himself down a tad with his "5 goals for Limerick, no goals for Dan" line but I think he apologised later on. The game will miss him sorely.

Daysha

Fcuk it I shouldn't reply but I can't help myself...tom thum this is ridiculous! You used 'numbers' to point towards his inconsistency, but whenever someone used numbers to compare him to someone else you basically implied you can't just compare players using that formula. Contradictory at all?

One thing I failed to mention in the OP is that of the 52 games Dan played, 16 of those were cameo's from the subs bench. So that's 36 Championship games Dan had started.

When he did come on from the bench he scored 1-3 in total, so let's take that out of the equation.

That's a total 20-55 from 36 Championship starts.

That's not all, many of his games for Waterford in the first few years saw him in midfield. He's not going to be scoring goals from there. That leaves his total from forward play as 20-55 from around 30 games. Or if you wish, 2 goals for every 3 games played with an average of nearly 2 points from play every game.

Also the very idea that you can highlight Shefflins +300 extra points than Dan and follow that by saying free's don't enter the equation is absolutely laughable.

if dan was any good at taking them, he would have been taking them.

Shock horror, Dan spent his first 8-9 years of hurling playing with Paul Flynn, one of the best free takers in Ireland and one of the top 10 championship scorers of all time. After he retired he had his cousin Eoin Kelly who isn't exactly that bad at them either.

I'm not stupid enough to think Dan was anywhere near as good as Shefflin. But those figures are pretty damn good for any inter-county hurler and 99% of the GAA population would tell you the same.

liammur

I'd agree, but richie had a habit of doing that, getting over excited.

Shanahan on his day, would be in my team ahead of any hurler since the great joe mckenna, problem was he didnt have too many, whereas the likes of shefflin is always consistent.