Conlon defends Banner’s training schedule

CLARE’S John Conlon insists that it is a myth that the Banner side over-trained in the seasons after they captured the 2013 All-Ireland title in such thrilling fashion. Clare meet Tipperary in Thurles this Sunday, knowing that a win puts them within touching distance of a second successive Munster final but Conlon says they are doing nothing different now to what they were doing in the years after 2013. ‘I think it was just more of people’s perception that we were flogged,’ says Conlon, who was named PwC hurler of the month for May yesterday. ‘We trained hard, yes, but no different to what we are doing at the moment and what any other county is doing. The weather is so nice at the minute that all you want to do is have a puck around every evening.’ Conlon feels that things just fell for Clare in 2013 and they had a bit of luck which has deserted them in recent years. ‘We got on a roll back then, won a couple of qualifier games and then beat Galway and Limerick in the quarterfinal and semi-final. And it is the same in any sport. When a team gets on a roll, it is hard to stop them.’ The Clonlara native, who at 29 is now the oldest player

on the Clare panel, says that the target this year is the same as it has been every season since 2013 — to win both the Munster and AllIreland titles. ‘Every year, we go out as a group, we set ourselves the target of winning Munster and the AllIreland. That’s no different this year. We know that we haven’t performed to the level we probably want to over the last few years but I think we saw glimpses of what we can do against Cork and Waterford.’ Conlon (right) puts his rich vein of form down to the faith that the management team of Donal Maloney and Jerry O’Connor have shown in him as well as having a new nutrition expert in the backroom team. And while the fact that they had a fortnight’s rest before Sunday’s match means Clare are in a good place, Conlon is wary of the Tipperary threat. ‘Tipp are coming off a big high, having come back to draw in the last two games,’ he says. ‘After beating Waterford, we would have loved to play again the following week because of that high that we were on. Now, we have to try and bring that intensity, work-rate and bite into this weekend. We know that if we are not at 100 percent, especially going to Thurles, we won’t win. ‘Everyone knows that this is a great Tipp team. They were within a puck of the ball of beating Galway last year, who went on to win the AllIreland, and everyone thought they were the team to beat in the League until the final. You can never write Tipp off — as they say, they’re the home of hurling and every time we go out and play them there is a massive rivalry.’