At club level he played with Holycross–Ballycahill and was also a member of the Tipperary senior hurling team.
Lanigan first played hurling at juvenile and underage levels with the Holycross–Ballycahill club.
He won a divisional title in the minor grade in 1984, the same year he won a special county title as a schoolboy with Thurles Vocational School.
Lanigan eventually progressed onto the club's senior team and won a Tipperary SHC title in 1990 after beating Cashel King Cormacs in the final.
[4] Lanigan's performances in the under-21 grade earned a call-up to the senior team's extended training panel during their 1989 All-Ireland SHC-winning campaign.