BRIAN LOHAN BELIEVES Clare gave their best performance of the season in the Munster round-robin clash with Cork.
They haven’t quite reached those heights in their subsequent games but they will aim to reproduce their best hurling on All-Ireland final Sunday at Croke Park.
They will need to. Just like Cork will too.
“It was a really good game. I thought we played really well. It was probably our best performance of the year so far,” says Lohan.
“Even though we did go down, we went seven down at one stage during the game, I thought it was a really good game down in Cork. We had to be really good to win.
“I don’t think we have got to that level since then. It was our best performance of the year.”
Cork and Clare have led the way in translating quick puck-outs at one end into scores at the other. It’s an element John Kiely identified as a new development in the past year.
“I suppose Limerick love structure. They love the referee to blow the whistle twice before the ball comes out and they have always got that structure,” replies Lohan.
“They like to have their three half-backs in place, their half-forward line, and they are very good on the opposition puck-out.
“You’re governed by the referee. If the referee won’t allow the quick puck-out, it restricts you.”
Johnny Murphy’s interpretation will be the subject of some consideration by Lohan, like his Cork counterpart Pat Ryan, before the final.
“You just have to look at the referee and look at how he referees games previously. Then, that is never a guarantee that they will referee the puck-out in the same format.
“The question we have nearly every day we play: Is the referee going to allow the quick puck-out?
“That is a question every goalkeeper and every manager wants to know: Will you be allowed the puck-out?
“Typically, when it is a score, he has to take time to write down the score but when it is a wide you generally get it out a bit quicker.”
Lohan has some decisions to make with pacy midfielder Ryan Taylor back to fitness, while Shane O’Donnell has displayed All-Star form in both the full- and half-forward lines.
“The rarest commodity in the game is half-forwards that can win their own ball. He is one of those guys,” Lohan says of O’Donnell.
“Obviously, he is also a deadly inside forward too. The question is: Where do you get the best use out of him? Is it in the half-forward line or the full-forward line? It is a great problem for us to have.
“He is that kind of individual. He would perform at an exceptional level in either of those lines on the field.
“When he was younger, U14 or U16, he was centre-back. He was always that bit ahead of his peers.”
Lohan feared for O’Donnell’s future after the concussion he suffered in 2021, which rendered him unable to return to work for six weeks. In recent years, the Hurler of the Year contender has returned to the Clare camp towards the end of the National League.
“Absolutely, it was a real serious incident. He got the expertise he needed.
“The quality that he is, we’d love to have him back, but at the same time we were conscious it was such a serious incident, it was absolutely 100% his decision and his call as to when he came back.
“That has influenced how he has trained over the last two years. It is great for him that he has been able to get back and get back to the level he is at.”
Lohan adds the 2024 All-Ireland final to the three he contested as a player. He feels his players must embrace the occasion but knows only one will enjoy it post-match.
“There is great excitement in it but it is a game that you have to enjoy the excitement that is there, try to embrace it, while at the same time keep at the back of your head that this is a really competitive game.
“It is a game that everyone wants to be there but nobody wants to be in a losing team in an All-Ireland final. It is worse than losing a semi-final. It is worse than losing a quarter-final. It is a bad place to be.
“While you’re conscious of enjoying it, you do want to stay concentrated, you want to be tuned in to get the best out of yourself, to show your best abilities on that big day.”