Joe Canning: Can Clare rediscover belief as Tipperary search for spark in Thurles? (original) (raw)
Since their last games, Clare and Tipperary have had time on their side. Clare were so bad against Limerick that they probably would have wanted to play another match the following day to right the wrong, but instead they’ve had a fortnight to think about it. Tipperary have had three weeks since they blew an 11-point lead against Waterford.
Using that time wisely is not a simple equation. With three weeks on their hands, the temptation for Tipp would have been to do too much. In that time, you could easily have five or six intense sessions and your fill of A versus B matches. For Tipp, that would have been a mistake.
What they need more than anything now is freshness. Sometimes when you win big it can take a little bit of an edge off you, no matter how much you’re aware of that danger or no matter how much you talk about it. You’re just lacking that little bit of want, that little bit of hunger. You’re as fit as you’ve ever been but you’re missing a yard of dash. That’s the difference between getting the ball and being second.
I’ve no doubt that Tipperary thought about this during the winter. They haven’t successfully defended an All-Ireland title since the mid-1960s, and this team wanted to be different. Most team holidays are around Christmas time or very early in the New Year, but Tipp went away during the first fortnight in November. They were giving themselves every chance to be in the best possible shape for the start of the new season.
READ MORE
So far, though, they haven’t come close to the performances they produced in Croke Park last season, or in Ennis around this time last year. Against Cork and Waterford they dropped off badly in the second half. On their run to the title last year, they were a second-half team. That is a massive difference straight away.
I don’t think the issue is physical. The most powerful thing of all in the middle of the championship is mental freshness. Over the last three weeks Tipperary needed to find a pep in their step.
When we were winning club All-Irelands in Portumna our coach was Dinny Cahill, a Tipperary man. He’s back with us this year and on the training pitch he just has an infectious way about him. The session might go on for an hour and 20 minutes but every night you’d come off the field wanting to do more. I guarantee you if you played a match in training every night lads wouldn’t be long getting sick of hurling but that never happens with Dinny.
Clare’s Adam Hogan and David McInerney clash with Aidan O'Connor and Shane O'Brien of Limerick. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
That was the challenge for Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans; they needed to get through the work without the players feeling like a slog. Three weeks is more than enough time for a reset if it’s managed properly.
For Clare it is a different challenge. Before the Limerick match there was no shortage of people prepared to say that they were All-Ireland contenders and afterwards the same people were saying they had no chance.
I think Clare have enough confidence in themselves to draw a line through the Limerick game. I still think they have one of the best forward lines in the championship. The problem the last day was their forwards were bullied by the Limerick backs. That’s not going to be an issue in Thurles this weekend.
Tipperary played a sweeper in the All-Ireland final last year because they were worried about conceding goals and taking themselves out of the game. They haven’t used that tactic this year and they’ve been easy to score against. Clare will see this as a chance to put up a big score.
The issue for Clare is at the other end of the field, and that’s not a new problem either. Can they fix that in a fortnight? Maybe not to the extent that they need to but maybe enough to get past Tipperary.
Tipperary's Andrew Ormond scores a goal against Waterford. Photograph: Inpho
Clare’s big players didn’t perform against Limerick and there’s obviously no future in that. People have been talking about the age profile of the team and how many of them are over 30, but Limerick’s age profile is very similar and nobody has raised that as a reason why Limerick won’t win the All-Ireland.
There is a feeling, though, that this could be the last chance for this group of Clare players to win something and that thought must have galvanised them over the last fortnight. Nearly all of these players have won All-Irelands and National Leagues but its 28 years since Clare won a Munster championship – before a lot of them were born.
Clare don’t need to be thinking about Croke Park at the moment because winning a Munster title must be a massive short-term goal. If they needed something to focus their minds again, that’s it.
Lukasz Kirszenstein, the Clare strength and conditioning coach, worked with Galway when we won the All-Ireland in 2017. There’s no doubt in my mind that Clare will be bouncing again this weekend.
Clare’s Shane O'Donnell and Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/ Inpho
People wondered if playing in Division One B of the league would have a negative effect on Clare for the championship, but I think it’ll stand to them now. Those games wouldn’t have taken the same toll on their bodies as the games in Division One A. I think they’ll feel the benefit of that now. Can you win an All-Ireland from the second tier of the league? Galway did it in 2017 and Limerick did it in 2018. You can.
You can imagine what Clare have been saying to themselves for the last two weeks: everybody is writing us off. They’ll be using all of that stuff. That’s been bred into Clare since Ger Loughnane in the 1990s and Brian Lohan has the same mindset as Loughnane.
I don’t even think Lohan will have to say anything to the players this weekend. That Limerick performance will drive them on. I think they’ll win by two or three points and get their season back on track.
[ Nicky English: Cork get expected win but in unexpected circumstancesOpens in new window ]