New role sees Kissane change mind on seeding

Former Cork defender Paudie Kissane admitted his new role in the Clare management team has changed his opinion about seeding in the Munster championship.

The All-Ireland medallist played for Cork as recently as last summer and had he not retired would have welcomed this year’s seeding arrangement. His native Cork and Kerry have been put straight through to the provincial semi-finals, on opposite sides of the draw, all but ensuring a traditional derby day final.

The move angered weaker Munster counties, including Clare, didn’t take part in January’s McGrath Cup or the inter-provincial competition as a mark of protest. Clare play Waterford in their championship opener on the second weekend of June while Tipperary meet Limerick in late May. The winners play Kerry and Cork, respectively in the semi-finals.

“Of course, if I had my Cork jersey on, I’d be saying, ‘isn’t it great?’,” admitted Kissane. “But, at the end of the day, it’s about trying to develop the game and bring on the lesser counties, to give them a chance. So I think an open draw would have been a lot better.

“I think it’s a bit unfair. You have lads here putting in a massive effort. Why should they not have the same chances as every other county? But look, it was out of our control and we just have to drive on and deal with Waterford first.

“It’s disappointing, yeah, but there’s nothing we can do about it so we just have to drive on.”

Clare will go into the Waterford encounter in a positive frame of mind after securing promotion from Division 4 and coming up just a point shy of Tipperary in last weekend’s Croke Park final.

“I didn’t think I’d get back to Croke Park so soon,” said Kissane. “I’m enjoying it. It’s about winning and if we can keep winning, I’ll be happy.

“We have a great six weeks now to look forward to the Championship.”