“At This Level, If You Are Not Going In To Win, Then You Might As Well Just Stay At Home” – O’Connell

Derrick Lynch

The 2020 intercounty season for Clare camogie gets underway this Sunday when they travel to St Brendan’s Park in Birr to take on Offaly in the opening round of the National Camogie League.

It is a second year in charge for manager Ger O’Connell, with the make-up of his starting 15 likely to be much changed from their last outing in the 2019 championship. All Star Chloe Morey is not available for the coming season, while the Scariff-Ogonnelloe contingent will not be immediately involved after their run to the All-Ireland club semi-final last weekend. A number of other experienced players are also understood to be opting out for the coming year, but the Clonlara man is confident the younger members of the panel will step up to the place.

“We have a really successful underage section that has been coming through in the last few years and getting to two All-Ireland finals in three years was a massive achievement. We have a core of those players now with us which is brilliant to have but there is no doubt that some of the players we don’t have are going to be missed. It is not just unique to camogie though, we have seen it across the board in the GAA that players just cannot commit for whatever reasons and you just have to move on and that is what we are trying to do. It is still a process and that hasn’t changed. We went back early this year and we have over 30 sessions done at the moment. Every year you are trying to improve from what happened the previous year. You have to improve every time you go out and we have introduced a few things a little earlier this year to start working on them and players are starting to really buy into what we are trying to do which is great to see. They have been fantastic. It is a different mindset in that they are coming from the underage set-up where a lot is done for them. They are in a senior set-up now so you are an adult and you have to do things for yourself. That transition has probably been a bit slower than you would expect for a couple of them but they are really starting to find their feet now. You can see their characters really starting to shine through and they are  getting  more comfortable within the environment that we have set up which is great and once they do settle in, and buy into what we are trying to do, they will be fine. They are fantastic players so the talent is there and the challenge is to build everything else around that to allow them to express themselves and that is what we are looking to do” he noted.

There are also new faces in the management team for 2020 with All-Ireland winning coach Conor Dolan making the switch from Galway to his native Clare. O’Connell feels he is a massive addition to the squad.

He said: “He is coming in with that winning mentality and he watched a lot of club games with me and he just could not believe the standard. That has been proven right with what Scariff-Ogonnelloe did and it just proves that the talent is there in Clare and it is just about getting the structures right around it. We want to give these players the best opportunity to develop and the best opportunity to express themselves and that is what we are trying to do so that the girls can go and enjoy their camogie. The girls are training five days a week and there is no difference between the effort they are putting in and what the lads are doing. They are putting in a huge effort and I could not be happier with what they are doing at the moment”.

Clare will be hoping to use the momentum built up by Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s historic season, and while the next few games might see Clare without the players involved in that success, O’Connell feels their achievements have paved the way for the county team to follow.

“It is great to have a Clare team hold their own against one of the best teams out there. If there was another five minutes in that game, it could well have been Scariff-Ogonnelloe who came through. They will be a brilliant addition to the squad when they come back and will give us all a boost when they come back in, but going into the league we will have to use it to look at players. We will be going game by game and nothing changes from that. Our sole focus has been on Offaly for the last few weeks and that is a big game for us. We have two really tough games after that with Cork and Kilkenny so all we can do is try to get over Offaly and see what that tells us about where we are at right now. I am aware that the Scariff-Ogonnelloe contingent will need a break because it is a long year both psychically and mentally and they deserve that break before we see them coming back in. With the success of Scariff-Ogonnelloe in recent weeks, it has meant that other girls have got more game-time with us in challenge games and training. We have had the chance to look at the core 23 or 24 players that we have without those players. It is great to have the likes of Niamh O’Dea back and we have Máire McGrath back too and those experienced players are invaluable when you are trying to bring a lot of younger girls through. We are going to be bringing them on and they will have to be thrown in at the deep end at times, but we also have that core group who have been there for a while now and they are invaluable to us” he said.

It is a tough start to the campaign for Clare with two away trips, including a double header with the hurlers against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park. The manager insists they are ready for what lies ahead.

“I have never been one to blame anything on having to travel away from home because that really is no excuse. We will be organised and have our plan laid out. At this level, if you are not going in to win, then you might as well just stay at home and it doesn’t matter who you are playing. The focus at the moment is on Offaly and once we are over that, the focus will be on Kilkenny and we will take it game by game” he concluded.

Clare v Offaly gets underway in St Brendan’s Park Birr on Sunday at 2pm.