‘Focus on the job and not the occasion’ – Damian O’Halloran

Damian O’Halloran brings All-Ireland minor winning experience to the Clare set up from his involvement with the Galway sides that won titles in 2017 and ’18 – now for a third title in the grade that would be the sweetest of all, writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh

Been there and done that!
There are a few of the Clare backroom team that have ticked these boxes where competing in All-Ireland finals is concerned.
Of course, Dónal Moloney is the obvious one to default to when fitting that bill, on the back of his sterling, and ever-continuing, job of journeywork at underage level that brought with it four All-Ireland final appearances in five seasons during his first coming.
Damian O’Halloran is the other, with the Inagh-Kilnamona man looking ahead to his fourth All-Ireland final day out, but where this day will differ from the previous three is that this will be his maiden voyage with a saffron and blue bib on his back.
Before it was Galway – at minor level in 2017 and ’18 and then at Under 21 level in ’21, when on all three occasions he was part of Jeffrey Lynskey’s management ticket.
It’s a well of experience that Brian O’Connell was glad to call on as he assembled his backroom teams for 2022 and again in 2023, as O’Halloran set out on what would be a journey to a third All-Ireland minor decider.
“It was a good eye-opener for me,” he says of being part of Galway’s All-Ireland minor winning set-ups in 2017 and ’18. “It was a great experience, getting fresh into coaching.
“To see two All-Ireland minor winning teams was an experience to see what it takes in the background to getting a team that far was a big eye-opener to me. As a young coach, it definitely opened my eyes to the level of preparation and hopefully, I brought some of that down to these lads here,” he adds.
He’s just done that, and despite protestations that he’s “a small part in a big operation”, there’s no doubting the fact that the experience of being around the block more than once, just like Dónal Moloney has, has been a boon to Clare’s progress.
And, ahead of Sunday, his knowledge of how Galway operates at minor level is something that won’t do Clare any harm when coming into a final where they’ll be regarded as underdogs, given the way the young Tribesmen of laid waste all the opposition this year.
The 12-point win over Kilkenny in the Leinster final and the All-Ireland semi-final over Cork by 14 points were the two with specific reference to Clare, who also had to overcome the same opposition en route to the final.
“I saw it when I was up there with them [Galway],” he says. “The belief they have when they get to an All-Ireland minor final. They just believe that they should be winning it.
“We have to bring a similar belief because we’re just as good as what’s in the competition and we just need to believe that and get a big performance out of these lads,” he adds.
You sense that O’Halloran is no doubt that belief won’t be a problem once the ball is thrown in, as the growth in the team with every victory along the way priming them for this toughest test.
“We got a bit of an eye-opener against Limerick, [Munster second round],” he recalls. “They kind of caught us; they had their preparation done and got the better of us that day. We learned a lot since that day.
“We’ve had a good few wins under the belt and that’s breeding confidence in what we’re doing and the adjustments we made after the Limerick game, the lads really bought into it and you couldn’t ask for more from these players. Whatever you ask them to do, they’ll do it.
“It takes everyone,” he continues. “There’s nutrition, there’s sports psychology with Paul Flanagan; there’s video analysis; the walk-throughs; the level of detail that’s there, they thrive on it and I really notice that with minors. They just buy into it and soak up everything and do everything that you ask them.”
Of course, the big question that’s being asked of them on Sunday is to deliver the Irish Press Cup – bring it back over the Shannon into Clare for only the second time in 27 years, instead making the crossing into Galway for the 15th time in 40 years.
“They’re young and it’s about development but when you get there you want to win it,” he says. “You want to give it your best shot. We are very much focused on our performance. We’re not just happy to be there – we want to go on one step further.”
And along the way, O’Halloran has the benefit of that experience from 2017 and ’18 when Galway got the better of Cork and Kilkenny respectively in Croke Park, it’s about playing the game and not the All-Ireland occasion.
“The challenge for the lot of us is to focus on our jobs and break it down to our job and what we need to do,” he says. “Get on the breaking balls, the next play kind of mentality and what’s your next job.
“If you’re doing that you’re not thinking about the crowds or the cup and it all just fades into the background. These lads have played in Thurles twice now – they know to focus on the job and not the occasion.”
All that’s left then is the performance that’s needed – and that’s in them. Their eighth game of the campaign started on a dreadful night down in Shannon on March 21 and can end in the sunshine of Thurles.
“If I was to compare the two Galway minor teams that I was involved with, with these guys, they are every bit as good as them,” said O’Halloran. “It’s just about making sure we believe and know that going down there. Tradition never won anything and as long as we stick to what we’re good at and get a good performance we should be right there.
“As a management team, it would mean a lot – a lot of hard work has gone into it. It’s all about the players – they have put in so much work. I even see lads coming back from injury, the work they have put in to get there and to get the reward would be amazing.”