Shane O’Donnell has gotten his first 41 minutes of competitive hurling under his belt in 2024, coming on as a second-half sub as Clare won their first piece of silverware since their 2016 league win against Waterford after a replay.
The 2023 All-Star was delighted to finally get back but was wary of the challenges ahead when he spoke to TG4.
“Yeah, absolutely. It's great to get a few minutes out there and, obviously, get a national league medal. The most important thing about today is that it's brilliant preparation for a couple of weeks,” O’Donnell said.
I think the development of young players has been the biggest thing. We have seen a couple of the younger lads having a brilliant league, and they brought that into today as well, which gives them confidence going into the next few weeks and the championship,
I think it is what you make of the next few weeks as you don’t want to feel like you are on the same pitch for league and championship so you need to find a way to lift it, but you know you are in the best position when you win the league,
I think it has been massively successful. I don’t think we would be talking about it if everyone else hadn’t seen that we have had a good league from that perspective.
11 June 2023; Shane O'Donnell of Clare celebrates an early score during the Munster GAA Hurling Championship Final match between Clare and Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Shane O'Donnell sings Brian Lohan's praises
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When asked about Banner manager Brian Lohan, O’Donnell was nothing but praise for the two-time All-Ireland winner.
“There has been a senior group that may be my age or a year or two older and has been there for the last couple of years. When Brian took over, he fostered that younger group with the likes of Mark Rodgers, who has been brilliant the last couple of years, and another few added to it today, like Conor Leen, having good performances. Hence, we are in a good position,” The Eire Og man said,
I think he has been brilliant in connecting the players back to the fans. As you can see, the fans love coming to watch, especially with Brian involved. I don’t think we have been as close to the fans since I've been involved.
It’s a large part of it. There is no better person to get you up for a game than Brian. He trusts the players to sort out the nitty-gritty stuff on the pitch. This sets you up with the passion you expect and powers you to go and take it from there.
He is brilliant and a very pragmatic manager. I would say he is there to roar and shout when he needs to, and he knows when to dial it back when they know he is doing everything they can, especially when you don’t get the breaks and the game doesn’t go your way. He is pragmatic about understanding it and lowering his blade when things fail. He ebbs and flows with that and matches the pitch the players are at.
It's A Long Summer Ahead
Shane O’Donnell was quick to keep his feet on the ground about the possible challenge for Munster and All-Ireland glory. He remembers losing the opening round of Munster after winning the league previously.
“I think over the last few years, we believed we could do big things, to be honest. Still, we all know Munster, we could go out in the first game and have an extremely difficult day against Limerick. Maybe it won't go our way. In the next couple of weeks, we must lift it to that championship pitch,” O’Donnell said.
The league has been brilliant, but there's still that extra few per cent that we need to find. The other teams have been sitting and watching this match, so they have been analysing. They were a little bit behind in that perspective, so it’s a big couple of weeks ahead,
The team has been gelling over the last few years, but I wouldn’t get carried away by how much the league means this time of year. I think you referenced the last time we won in 2016. I think most of the Clare players involved that day would remember the first championship game where we lost.
You would take that role reversal; losing today and winning the first round of the championship, I think you would take that swap. We are in a good position, but there's a huge amount of work to do. It’s a long summer ahead.
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