Loughnane talks up senior hopes

In the view of Clare’s most successful hurling manager, the county is on the verge of getting back to the top of the senior hurling ladder at national level.
“We now stand at the cusp of our next potentially successful team with Clare. In the next three or four years a chance to win an all-Ireland for Clare is going to come. That is an absolute certainty. It’s a certainty that is brought about by the amount of talent in Clare at the moment,” Ger Loughnane told a large gathering when he presented medals to the Munster minor hurling champions at the Auburn Lodge Hotel, Ennis, at the weekend.
“This is reinforced by the fact that the county board we have now is probably the best we have had in my time, from minor to now. The work they are doing in Tulla in developing facilities along with what has been done in developing a huge pool of great coaches, is as good as in any county in Ireland. The potential within the county is at an all-time high but are we going to succeed?”
Loughnane was the special guest as Clare GAA celebrated the winning of the 2010 Munster Minor Hurling Championship.
“I have rarely seen a team with such great unity, apart from the team I was involved with in the ’90s. The number one thing in order to be a success is to have really solid lads and there are a huge number who fit into that category in this minor team. Combine that with what we had in U-21 for the last three years and the future is bright,” he said.
According to the man to managed Clare to two Munster and three All-Ireland senior titles, Clare have, in every decade, produced a team capable of winning an all-Ireland. “In the ’70s and ’80s we contested five Munster finals and had huge chances. We had chances in the early 2000s and didn’t take them.”
Stressing the potential currently in the county, Loughnane asked, “If we don’t succeed now, what will hold us back? There are a number of things that have held us back for generations, Skill wise, the speed of our play, the ability to win ball in the air, the ability to win ball in the tight, they have always been huge flaws in Clare. These are the things that have to be remedied. They are ingrained in the Clare hurling psyche,” he told the audience.
“The greatest nightmare I have is that we will live forever in what has happened in the past. Living in the past is a total disaster. The past is only great if the next generation take it on and become successful.  Then the past becomes great. The past on its own is absolutely useless,” he continued.
“If we had won in the early 2000s we were made but we didn’t. We let Cork slip through our grasp, even though we had them there just to squeeze them and beat then and put them down but we hadn’t the ruthlessness. You have to have the absolute ruthlessness to take these people apart. Being beaten by a point or two or hard luck stories have no part to play. If you have to endure unpopularity to do that, who the hell cares if you have the McCarthy Cup at the Square in Ennis on the night after the All-Ireland.”
“The journey began in Ennis against Tipperary, who were favourites to win. Your most heroic display was in the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny, who were most outrageous favourites. That was the day that really augured well for Clare hurling. Clare were not intimidated by Croke Park or by Kilkenny, as so many teams are. You played terrific hurling. Days like that are the days that make you and test you. It might be a disadvantage to win too easily too soon,” he said.
Going on to recall his time as Galway manager, Loughnane said, “There is one player that always stands out, a brilliant young player in every way, sound lad, very intelligent who did very well in university. He had an U-21 All-Ireland and was on the senior panel and a big hope for the future of Galway hurling. 
He decided one year that he wanted to go to America for the summer just at a crucial period in his development. I asked him why and he said he wanted to spend one summer in America as he knew he was going to win All-Irelands with Galway. I asked how did know that. He said look at all the success we have had at minor and U-21 levels. I know I am going to win, was the reply.”
Loughnane went on to tell his audience that he tried to dissuade the Galway player in question from travelling to the US but failed.
“It just shows that dreams and the expectations from underage can turn into a cul de sac,” he told the Clare minor hurlers.
Sounding a note of warning to the players, he said, “Many of you are going to come to that juncture in the next three or four years. It wasn’t a disaster to lose the All-Ireland. We have massive, massive potential. The only team Tipperary could fear in U-21 in recent times is Clare.
“They are the only ones who have come near them. If they can win All-Irelands with six U-21s, why should we not be right up there also. If we have a minor team that can come from a seven or eight-point defeat in round one to contest an All-Ireland, why should we not be confident as well?
“I hope you have been hurt by the defeat in the All-Ireland. Heroic defeats aren’t worth anything. The whole thing of inter-county hurling is win. It’s all about win. We have massive potential to win. We have fantastic people in this county, as good as any other county, at county board level, at coaching level at every level possible. We should have confidence in ourselves in Clare. We shouldn’t think that we are inferior to any other county including Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny. After all, we once beat the three of them on the way to an All-Ireland and we beat one of them twice. If we did that, why should we fear them anymore,” he continued.
“The question now is have you the dedication? Have you now the application? Have you the drive to move on to the next step? You are up the first step of the ladder. Are you going to go back down or are you going to climb the next step to U-21? The next step after that, there is a big step to get onto the senior panel. In all of my time, the greatest honour I ever had was playing senior inter-county for Clare, the thrill I got is the greatest thrill. You have got to get the other counties to respect you. You have the ability to do it. You have every quality needed. You have three years now to make a senior player. After that, the opportunity will pass. You have everything that is needed. You and the U-21s are our next great hope to win an all-Ireland.
“We will be nothing in Clare until we win another All-Ireland. We have got to win one in this decade and you are the people. You have everything but in three years time will you be able to contest the ball in the air and in the tight? Will your hurling, left and right, have improved? If it has, you will be on your way. We will be in the Square in Ennis sometime in 2015 or 2016 with the McCarthy Cup back. Then and only then will Clare have respect as a real hurling force. Don’t forget, we are banking on you. Well done on the past but it’s the future we are all interested in,” he concluded.
Earlier in his address, Loughnane told the audience that this year three books of a standard never before seen have been written by Clare people. Christy O’Connor’s book won the book of the year award, Ollie Byrnes has produced a fantastic book and Seamus O’Reilly has just produced a tome of hurling and football in Clare that should not be missed.