Matt Banahan sets his sights on main prize

Matt Banahan refuses to give up on his England dream but knows a successful season with Bath is non-negotiable if he is to force his way back in.
Banahan, a fixture in the Red Rose set-up during the final two years of Martin Johnson’s reign, found himself surplus to requirements after the 2011 World Cup.
The Jersey-born centre bridles at the word dumped but knows he must produce something special if he is to impress current boss Stuart Lancaster.
“I wouldn’t say I was dumped,” Banahan told The Rugby Paper. “It’s their opinion who they pick and all I can do is keep trying to prove them wrong. I’ve got to play how Bath want me to play to the very best level I can, but what I can’t control is how England play and who they choose to pick.”
Banahan who could well star in the season curtain-raising JP Morgan Sevens, adds: “I’ve definitely not given up. I’m only 26 and people have played for England until they’re 33 or 34, so I’ve still got time to earn further recognition.
“This autumn might be too early because they’re not going to pick someone who hasn’t played for England in the last year. But people have had longer breaks from international rugby than me and come back to play for their national team.
“It helps if you’re in a winning team at the top of the league, so all I can do is keep knocking on the door and, hopefully, the door will open again.”
Bath finished outside the Heineken Cup qualifying places for a second successive season.
The long era of success enjoyed by their predecessors during the Eighties and Nineties appears to have weighed heavily in recent years.
But Banahan compares Bath to Liverpool – another great club seeking to recapture past glories.
“That’s what happens when you have a massive era of success behind a club, everyone looks at that and expects more,” he said.
“I’m a big Liverpool fan and everyone looks back on their golden era, but games modernise and you get swings and roundabouts.
“First it was Bath, then Leicester and Wasps, so there’s always going to be to-ing and fro-ing as different clubs jostle for top spot.
“We finished seventh last season but lost to Sale by a point after one missed tackle and London Welsh because we threw an intercept.
“If we’d won those games we might have come fourth and been in the play-offs, so that’s how tight the Premiership margins are.”
Rather than be weighed down by Bath’s rich history of league and cup triumphs, Banahan believes it should be embraced.
And he has no qualms over playing for a chairman as demanding as Bruce Craig, who is not averse to making his feelings known.
He added: “Everyone is desperate to deliver. I don’t want to be playing for an unsuccessful club.
“My views, I guess, are the same as Bruce’s in that we want to be one of the most successful clubs, not just here in England but in Europe, too.”
NEALE HARVEY