*Diarmuid Ryan fielding the sliotar from the sky in a man of the match display versus Kilkenny. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
A shorter run-in time for Clare’s championship opener has not diluted the buzz in the camp according to Diarmuid Ryan who is enjoying a new lease of life while making the number five jersey his own.
Three of Clare’s defenders, Diarmuid, Conor Cleary and David McInerney all made their senior championship debuts against Waterford in the respective years of 2019, 2016 and 2013.
Although Ryan’s bow saw him line out at wing-forward under the guidance of Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor, Brian Lohan has utilised the Cratloe man at wing-back and it’s a role he admitted to being more comfortable with having previously come to the fore at centre back for the county minors in 2017.
At number five, Diarmuid was one of Clare’s most consistent players during an inconsistent League campaign. “Where I am now is where I’m most comfortable, I’ve done most of my hurling in the backs, I’ve been tried out in the forwards but I think I’ve settled down nicely at wing-back, all the way up along I was known as being a back so hopefully I can stay there and hold onto the number five jersey”.
One has to go back to Mike McNamara’s time as manager for the last time Cratloe only had one representative on the senior hurling panel, it was Martin Oige Murphy then and it’s Diarmuid now following recent exits of Cathal McInerney, Podge Collins and Rian Considine. “It is strange. Usually when you’re getting on the bus at Setrights it is nearly a bus load of Cratloe people getting on but it is different not to have the lads like Cathal, Podge or McGrath around but I’ve to get used to it but it is quite strange. Hopefully in the next couple of years we will have a few more Cratloe guys pushing through”.
With two weeks separating Clare’s final League clash and their Munster quarter-final tie, Diarmuid has embraced the short turnaround. “I think it is a good approach because when we finished the league so well it is good to keep going in the routine we’re in with matches coming thick and fast, we don’t want to be resting on our laurels and we’re happy to be playing every weekend. The quick turnaround is good, we reflected a bit on the League and took positives from our last couple of performances but attention quickly turned to Waterford after the Kilkenny game”.
Reflecting on their League efforts, the Mary Immaculate College student is of the view that it has Clare primed for championship especially given the “championship intensity” evident in their five point win over Kilkenny. “Obviously we started very slow in Belfast with Antrim but I don’t think people gave Antrim the credit they deserved after that game, you can see from their results across the League that they put in some excellent performances. We went back to the drawing board after that game and we tried to build, the performance got better against Wexford and we were unlucky not to come away with something but in every game we improved aspects of our play and it’s coming together nicely for the championship and we’re definitely in a good position”.
Largely forced to COVID guidelines, the Clare management have had to spend less time on collective video analysis sessions. This approach has been welcomed by the 2018 Harty Cup winner. “It is mostly done outside and if we were to go inside it would be very brief to avoid long spells altogether, sometimes we get the analysis done outside as a group, it is challenging because we would be used to meetings before games and sitting down for half an hour or forty minutes analysing teams but that can’t be done at the moment”.
“You can over analyse something to the point where it is too much analysis and to the points where lads are thinking down the line a bit further about their performances, when you’re in a room for so long there is only so much that can be absorbed, we try to keep it short and sweet and in fairness the lads are very good and don’t over analyse things too much, they will only pick out the things we really need to work on and it has really worked well for us so far”.
Currently on placement at Gaelscoil An Ráithín, Diarmuid has pinpointed the strength in depth of the Waterford panel as one of their greatest assets. “It is a panel that they have, they have a strong 26 and even a few more on the outside that are excellent players, we’re under no illusions that we’ll have our work cut out for us going down to Thurles. We’re going in as underdogs, I don’t know would it suit us or not but we’ve nothing to fear going in against Waterford, last year they could have won both Munster and All-Ireland finals so we’re going to go down and will give it everything we can and try build on the performances of the last couple of games, we know we need to build on it because a performance like what we did against Kilkenny won’t do against Waterford, there are some aspects that we need to improve so hopefully we will get them right and the result will look after itself”.
Shorter run-in times have not diluted the championship buzz in the camp, he flagged. “There was a buzz but it was made easier that we finished the League on a high, when a team is winning the mood in training really lifts, some lads are really buzzing and looking forward to it”.
