His uncle Dennis Haugh had previously been crowned British Light-Heavyweight boxing champion in 1913.

He learned the skills and acquired the arts of the game from his masters and his peers and he became one of the great players of his parish and county.

Finding employment in Dwan's Mineral Waters in Thurles resulted in his transfer from Toomevara to Holycross-Ballycahill.

[citation needed] In 1956, Toomevara regained senior status and John threw in his lot with his native parish once again.

In 1960, after again defeating Kilruane MacDonaghs[5] to win the North Tipperary senior hurling final, John won his second county title[6] when Toomevara defeated a Thurles Sarsfields side who were seeking their sixth county title in a row, the final score being Toomevara 3-15 Thurles Sarsfields 2-8.

On this occasion Toomevara were more confident and were in excellent physical condition due to the work of Ossie Bennett, who went on to prepare Tipperary teams through the golden era of the 1960s.

He relished the challenge, gave an outstanding performance at midfield and inspired his teammates to a memorable victory over one of the greatest club teams of all time.

John was captain of the Toomevara side that retained the North Division title in 1961 by defeating Borrisokane[7] and became the very first recipient of the new trophy for the championship, the Frank McGrath Cup,[8] presented in honour of Frank McGrath, who himself won three senior hurling championships with Toomevara in 1912, 1913, and 1914.

John's brother, Gerry, a valued member of the team, was killed in a traffic accident near Clonakilty, County Cork.

[14] Such were his efforts that he changed the course of the game and ensured a Tipperary victory and the return of the McCarthy Cup for the first time ever to Toomevara.

However, John annexed a Railway Cup winners medal in 1955 when Munster who were captained by hurling great Christy Ring defeated Connacht in the final by a scoreline of 6–8 to 3–4.