*Brian McNamara. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
NEW RULES and a stronger emphasis on fielding has made gaelic football “more exciting”, Clare midfielder Brian McNamara has said.
With kickouts now having to travel beyond the 40m line as part of the new rules in gaelic football, it has put a renewed importance on the ability of fielding and catching kickouts where Cree native Brian McNamara has become an invaluable asset for Clare.
As a result the pressure on the shoulders of the UL student has increased. On how he has adapted to the changes, Brian told The Clare Echo, “It is definitely different compared to when kickouts used to be a lot easier to get off short, in fairness it makes it more exciting for spectators as well as players, you want to be fielding the ball but it can be tough at times, that twenty second rule coming in where you have to come out, be out and turned is tough but I thought we were getting used to it and that we were getting stronger as the league went on, I thought Emmet (McMahon) was very good, he was very good in the air today, we’re building nicely”.
“You would when you’re catching them anyway,” he said on how it has enhanced his enjoyment of the game, “it is exciting in fairness”.
Clare’s five point win over Offaly was “bittersweet”, he said given that they missed out on promotion to Division 2. “We performed well today, I know our efficiency wasn’t great in the first half but we were doing everything right, it is unusual to come out of a game after winning by five or six points and be a bit disappointed, we want to build that consistency now and bring that to the Munster championship, that’s where our eyes are now”.
McNamara continued, “We need to go out every day and bring that level, that is what we have to aim for. There was a couple of games during the league when we weren’t consistent in the whole match and it came back to bite us there, it was a positive finish to the league and we’re building nicely now towards Munster”.
Having gone 0-2 0-0 ahead, Clare’s bright start was undone when they conceded a Jack Bryant goal on eleven minutes. “We were doing everything right and they got a fortunate enough goal but I thought we came back well and we stuck to what we were doing, we didn’t veer away from it and I thought it came right in the second half”.
Attention from Clare’s perspective was solely on taking care of their task as opposed to worrying on might happen between Kildare and Antrim, he outlined. “We were always focused on trying to get the win here, we wanted to win here first and we said whatever happens after that happens. In the second half, we really kicked on”.
Their gaze is now switching to championship where they will welcome either Tipperary or Waterford to Zimmer Biomet Páirc Cíosóg on April 19th. “It’s all eyes on that now, we’ll get back training in a couple of days’ time and build for that”.
