O’Connell retains captain’s armband

Clare senior hurling team captain, Brian O’Connell wants to see the media spotlight focusing on the Banner boys for all the right reasons in 2010.
O’Connell has shelved thoughts of emigrating to Australia to continue to lead the Clare hurlers in the year ahead. The Wolfe Tones clubman was this week reappointed as Clare captain by new manager Ger O’Loughlin.
First appointed to the role in February 2008, he captained the side during Mike McNamara’s two-year reign as team boss.
He suffered the ignominy of failing to lead Clare to a victory of any great significance last year and saw the end of season degenerate into a player revolt against Mike McNamara.
Nevertheless, 25-year-old O’Connell said this week that he wanted to put all that behind him and look to the future with confidence.
O’Connell, in his eighth season in the Clare senior panel, said, “Over the past couple of months we were in the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons. I want to see us in the media spotlight for the right reasons, such as winning games. The potential is there and there are a lot of good young players coming into the squad. Hopefully, we can bring them all along.”
For O’Connell, getting out of Division 2 has to be a main target for the early part of the year.
“We are starting from scratch and will be focussing on the upcoming league. After that, we will look to the championship and what is sure to be a tough test against Waterford.
“We will be keeping our heads down and working hard. The players understand that we have an awful lot to do. We can only take each game as it comes and try and put Clare hurling back up where it belongs.”
Clare’s first competitive game of the season is scheduled for Meelick this Sunday, when they play Waterford IT in the Waterford Crystal tournament.
“A lot of our players are involved with colleges and all of the panel will be in action at some stage, which is good as they will be able to get in some hurling, which we haven’t been able to do because of the weather in the past few weeks,” said O’Connell. In recent times, there had been speculation that O’Connell was considering emigrating in search for work.
“The idea of emigrating has been put on hold for the moment and I am looking forward to helping Clare hurling as best I can.
“The past is gone and we will be putting our heads down and working hard with the new management set-up in our efforts to bring Clare back up the ladder,” he concluded.