Louis Mulqueen says Clare hunger is back

Back in late 2013 when the memory of Clare’s intoxicating All-Ireland breakthrough was all that existed in the close season vacuum, the mind throbbed with possibilities.

Even those who managed to contain their giddiness that winter at the arrival of an ultra talented young team acknowledged one or two more All-Irelands was a certainty.

As late as the following May, after a middling league campaign, hurling analyst Eddie Brennan remained happy to tip Clare for a successful title defence in 2014.