O’Loughlin says O’Connell loss a massive blow to Banner

CLARE boss Ger O’Loughlin has described the loss of last year’s team captain Brian O’Connell who has emigrated to Australia, as a massive blow ahead of their 2011 campaign.

The 26 year-old Wolfe Tones player has been forced to leave due to a shortage of engineering work locally and O’Loughlin admits it he is a huge loss to a squad that is largely made up of young and inexperienced players.

“We only have about half a dozen experienced players and you definitely need all of them to bring the new guys on. It’s a massive blow that a player like Brian is no longer going to be with us. The circumstances were that Brian had very little work last year and he got an opportunity to go to Australia for a couple of months in October. He came back in mid-December and we met to have a chat about it. Unfortunately he had little appetite to stay around, so he decided to head back to a place where he has work.”

Clare make their seasonal bow next Sunday in Sixmilebridge when they entertain IT Tralee in the preliminary round of the Waterford Crystal Cup. O’Loughlin will be forced to operate without 14 members of his squad for the pre-season competition as they are involved with third-level outfits.

O’Loughlin is concerned about the hectic schedule those young talents face with college and county over the coming months, and believes the upcoming programme is further evidence of the damage caused by the GAA’s training ban in November and December.

“This ridiculous ban means players can’t do anything before Christmas. But then when January comes, they’re expected to come back and go flat out for a variety of teams. That’s how they pick up injuries and I’m seeing the hamstring and calf strains incurred by members of our squad, being picked up by the college lads. It’s not ideal that we won’t have them available before the league but we have to appreciate that the colleges get priority.”

O’Loughlin will also be without new captain Pat Vaughan for next weekend’s fixture as he continues to battle a long-term groin injury. It is hoped that the Crusheen defender will recover in time for Clare’s opening NHL Division 2 game against Limerick on February 13. Newcomers Conor McGrath, Cathal McInerney and Liam Markham are all unavailable for this Sunday’s clash as they are travelling to Barcelona with their club Cratloe, but O’Loughlin is set to use the IT Tralee game as an opportunity to run the rule over the likes of Danny Morey (Sixmilebridge), Mark Earley (Tubber), and Broadford duo James Gunning and Cathal Chaplin.

Meanwhile All-Ireland champions Tipperary will return to training with new manager Declan Ryan this Thursday night buoyed by their meeting with 100 metre world record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt in Jamaica. The Premier County hurlers arrived back in Shannon from their team holiday yesterday morning although Ryan’s first team since taking over from Liam Sheedy in next weekend’s Waterford Crystal game with Waterford IT is expected to be an experimental one.

As with the Kerry footballers last year, Bolt’s sponsors Digicel hosted an event at Chukka Adventure Centre in Trelawny, which saw the three-time Olympic gold medallist greet the Tipperary travelling party.

“It was a brilliant occasion,” said Tipperary midfielder Shane McGrath.

“We swapped jerseys and had a good few photos taken with him. We sat down with him for a bit of grub and he’s a real down to earth guy. We’d a few pucks as well and there was no fear in him.”