CLARE will hope to get themselves off the ropes in Division 1A when they resume their feud with Cork in this weekend’s dress rehearsal.
Yet with the main event on the horizon, former Banner hero Colin Ryan knows that the Liam MacCarthy Cup holders must be primed for next month’s Championship rematch with the Rebels even if they are counted out in the National League.
Clare looked doomed to be relegated after starting their season with three defeats on the spin.
But thanks to last weekend’s win over Limerick, avoiding the drop is still in their own hands.
However, Ryan told SunSport: “The Munster Championship has nearly turned into a Royal Rumble and surviving that will be the big priority.
“It would be a big help to stay up in Division 1A but it won’t make or break the season either.
“When these lads get to the Munster Championship, it’s going to be dog-eat-dog and you’re going to have four absolute animals of games.
“And you’re going to have to win at least two of them.”
On Easter Sunday, Clare and Cork will begin their Munster SHC campaigns at Cusack Park in a repeat of last July’s epic All-Ireland final — a battle the Banner won 3-29 to 1-34 after extra-time.
While a feisty rivalry has developed between the teams, Brian Lohan’s men have reigned supreme as the Leesiders have failed to win in their last six meetings.
Indeed, Ennis has been a particularly unhappy hunting ground for Cork, whose last win at the venue came during a 2009 league campaign that culminated in relegation for Clare.
When the sides square off there tomorrow, the hosts are sure to be keen to extend Cork’s wait for a triumph on Clare turf at least until they return in six weeks’ time.
Ryan, who was part of that beaten team 16 years ago despite a personal tally of 0-8, said: “No doubt about it, you have to try and set your stall out.
“I’m always a firm believer in leaving a scar in somebody’s head in that kind of a situation.
“Let them be in no doubt that they’re not going to get anything easy here.
“That isn’t to say that you absolutely have to get a result on Sunday.
“But a performance that keeps everything going in the right direction would be important.
“As an example, John Conlon looked rusty against Wexford but then he was excellent against Limerick a week later.
“More minutes and another game under the belt will help everyone.
“Whether they get the result or not, it won’t be the end of the world.
“But they’ll certainly want to back up the Limerick game with another performance.”
O’DONNELL MISERY
Getting the better of their neighbours at the TUS Gaelic Grounds last Sunday lifted the mood around Clare just a few days after news of a crushing blow to their 2025 prospects broke.
As evidenced by his winning of the Hurler of the Year award, the brilliant Shane O’Donnell led their charge to All-Ireland glory last summer.
But the three-time All-Star forward has been sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury.
Ryan remarked: “It’s not like it’s setting you up to win an All-Ireland but a win like the one last weekend does give the players confidence that they can take on the likes of Limerick without a Shane O’Donnell.
“But as Brian Lohan said after the match, the players knew about that for a while so it wasn’t as if they were hit with a thunderbolt last week and that Shane was gone for the year all of a sudden.
“They kind of knew it was coming.
“With some of the talk about how much it could hurt Clare, I’m sure they’ll be thinking that it’ll be all the sweeter if they can go on and succeed this year without a player of Shane’s importance.
“But they’ll be under no illusions about how difficult that’s going to be, because he’s an extraordinary player.”
TEAM EFFORT
According to Ryan, who won an All-Ireland medal alongside O’Donnell in 2013, compensating for the absence of the Éire Óg star will need to be a collective effort.
He explained: “I just think it’s up to other players now to stand up and show their worth.
“He’s impossible to replace so lads will have to share the load to make up for what he does.
“Everyone else in the forwards will be looking to pick it up a small bit.
“It’s going to take all of them to make up for what you’re missing with Shane because no single player is going to replace him.
“Even just looking at the simple things, I thought Mark Rodgers took on a great leadership role against Limerick and kind of brought other players into the game, kind of like Shane does in a lot of ways.
“He was kind of a targetman inside and he caused a lot of problems.
“Things like that are going to have to happen more frequently when you’re missing a player like Shane O’Donnell.
“It’s just going to be a case of sharing the burden of Shane’s loss.
“But they’re going to knuckle down and Brian isn’t going to let them feel sorry for themselves.
“There are no excuses with Brian and nothing will get in the way.
“I’d imagine all they’ll be looking at over the next couple of weeks is Cork in Cusack Park in the first round of the Munster Championship.
“Everything at the moment is building towards that and nothing else.”
