It may not be Clare-Tipp of 20 years ago but...
Tyrone had won three All-Irelands by that stage but they always took the league seriously. Despite all they had won, I asked Mickey if he’d like to win another league title. “Oh aye, Anthony, I surely would,” said Mickey. “But I wouldn’t like to be flat out winning it.”
A league title was always a huge ambition in Clare, but I still always held that core attitude of Mickey’s, because I could completely relate to what he was referring to. When we lost the league final to Kilkenny in 1995, we were gutted.
Clare hadn’t won anything by then but after we won an All-Ireland that September, the league occupied a different place in our minds. It becomes secondary in your thinking after experimentation and everything else you hope to achieve in spring to get ready for the summer.
That’s what separates Kilkenny from everyone else. They want to win it every year and they can most seasons without ever really emptying themselves.
Someone goes up for the cup afterwards, they probably throw it into the boot of a car afterwards — like Bill Hennessy did in 1995 — and move on as if it was just some bit of crystal from an auld tournament game.
You could see shades of that attitude in Jose Mourinho after last Sunday’s Capital One Cup victory against Spurs. They celebrated the win but 20 minutes later, Mourinho said it was all over. Mourinho had a glass of wine with his wife that evening.
The Kilkenny boys would probably sink a few pints the night of a league final but they’d hardly be tearing the ass out of it either.
When Dublin won the league title in 2011, a truly great breakthrough for hurling in the county, we were in Portmarnock the following day, the May bank holiday. We had a recovery session on the beach before going for lunch and allowing the lads a few drinks.
The next thing I saw the TV cameras arriving looking to do a piece for that evening’s Six-One News. I had to gong that idea straight away. We had Offaly in Leinster in five weeks and I could picture Joe Dooley and the lads at home having their tea watching the Dubs clapping themselves on the back.
That’s the beauty of Kilkenny. They can win leagues in third gear and nobody bats an eyelid. Meanwhile everyone else is worried about trying to leave something in the tank for the championship.
I presume that’s how Davy Fitzgerald and the Clare management will think now. There are often occasions when you can build up league games to be more than what they are but tomorrow against Tipp is still a huge game for Clare. There are certain league games you have to target as a must deliver — tomorrow in Ennis is one of those matches for Clare.
It’s 20 years now since Tipp arrived in Cusack Park for a big league game which Ger Loughnane always said was the real starting point of our All-Ireland odyssey. To say it was feisty was an understatement.
Declan Ryan and Seánie McMahon got to know each other with the ball at the other end. Most lads had it hot and heavy all over the field. The whole Clare team were in a frenzy. So were the Clare crowd.
This Clare team don’t need to go down the same road of going to war now. You wouldn’t get away with half the stuff anyway. You couldn’t say Clare are at the same point we were then because this team have All-Ireland medals in their arse pockets, but Clare still haven’t won a league or championship game since last April.
People are getting anxious and the players need to make some statement. I’d be concerned if I didn’t see more urgency in the body language of the players, but I’m sure there will be.
I’d be surprised if Conor McGrath, David McInerney and Tony Kelly don’t start and I’m sure you’ll see a more championship structure to the team. I expect Clare to be very focused and that the occasion will drag a big performance out of them.
When you look across the border, Galway aren’t under the same pressure for a result against Kilkenny but tomorrow is still a fantastic opportunity for them. With the squad Kilkenny has available at the moment, Dublin targeted two points against them a fortnight ago.
More importantly, they maintained their consistency and good form. If Galway are to be really serious contenders this season, they have to be adopting the same mindset in Salthill; beat Kilkenny, while also looking to string three decent performances together.
They didn’t get the result against Tipp two weeks ago, but I admired a lot of their play. The only downside was hitting another lull after half-time, as they had against Clare, and I’m sure Anthony Cunningham and his backroom team will have looked at that closely.
They have also been playing very defensively and they need to strike that right balance between hitting on the fast, over-lapping break or setting up to be more attack-minded for longer periods. For sure, you need to attack Kilkenny the whole time to beat them.
I was up in DCU last weekend with the Limerick minors. We played Dublin in a challenge game and the Dublin seniors were playing Ballyhale Shamrocks afterwards.
Some of the lads were inside in their dressing room before the match began — and before Ger Cunningham and his backroom team arrived — and I stuck my head in. “Come on,” I said, “what’s going on here?”
I knocked a bit of craic out of a few of them. Eamonn ‘Trollier’ Dillon learned a lot under us but never quite established himself. He is thriving under the new management. “Hoi Dalo, at least these boys are picking the right team.”
It was great to see the lads again. You just knew by them that they are in a good place and I’m really looking forward to tonight in Croke Park because I expect a good, open game, a real contest. Cork will be licking their lips going to Croke Park and not Parnell Park, but I fancy Dublin to kick on.
