Fasten your seat belts for a rollercoaster Semple ride

There’s a lot of comparisons being drawn between this Clare team and the Banner team of the nineties. That’s unfair, on both sides.

The team of the 90s came into a much different scenario: No Munster title in over 50 years; no All-Ireland for over 80; a knockout championship; a lot of baggage to be overcome – the curse of Biddy Earley and all that. I have no time for that nonsense myself but it mattered, affected the Clare psyche. Look at all the great Clare teams that had failed before then, so the so-called curse did have a negative effect, and at every level.

The team of the era didn’t just break the mould, they shattered it and the minors went on to make the All-Ireland breakthrough (’97), as did the various club teams.