BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Clare fear Kinnerk input
CLARE joint manager Gerry O’connor is fearful of the Paul Kinnerk factor as they prepare to face Limerick on Sunday. Kinnerk is now coaching his native Limerick having been part of the Clare backroom team as recently as last year. He was also a key part of their set up when they won the All-ireland in 2013 and worked alongside O’connor and his co-manager Donal Moloney when Clare won three All-ireland under-21 crowns from 2012-14. Clare are 4/7 favourites to see off Limerick in Thurles and reach their first Munster final since 2008 though O’connor (left) played down that status. He said: “What’s favouritism in a Clare-limerick derby? Two things about Limerick unfortunately Paul Kinnerk is with those guys, so he’ll be intimately aware of what Clare are doing, and of the style of play Donal and myself favour, and he’s a top class coach in his own right. So Limerick are going to be excellently prepared. “It’s a local derby and form goes out the window - in any game I’ve been involved with against Limerick, at minor or under-21, it didn’t matter who was favourite, it came down to the team which was the best prepared and most focused on the day.” After their hugely successful stints with the minors and under-21s, this is O’connor and Moloney’s first year with the senior side and the differences between being involved at this level and underage are stark. O’connor explained: “The number of games, certainly. At under-21 you might have four games of really competitive action in a good year, another year you might have five. That would be getting to the All-ireland in that grade in September. “We had something like 10 matches in a 12 to 13-week period with the seniors earlier this year, when you consider the Munster and National League. “That was a huge change, just in terms of the logistics, and arranging all of that. “The second difference is the physicality. There is just no comparison between under-21 and senior. “You’d feel you have an under-21 team reasonably well prepared, with a lot of gym and strength and conditioning work, but nothing will prepare you for the level of physicality in 1A. “I don’t believe it is [close], from what we’ve seen. We were down at the Galwaytipperary game and Galwaylimerick, and Galway appear to have moved onto a different level altogether. “Now physicality isn’t going to win you a game on its own either, but it’s a noticeable difference, and it’s a big ask for a player who’s been playing under-21.”