Conlon crucial if Banner are to overpower the Tribe – Bugler
WHAT a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Brendan Bugler was engrossed in Clare hurling but, after hanging up his boots, new challenges have taken precedence and tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final against Galway isn’t his top priority this weekend.
Today he will step foot into his new home in Whitegate – right on the Galway border – after closing the book on his playing days with the Banner and “turn the supporters’ switch on”, although the two-time All-Star still stays in regular contact with his former team-mates.
Having climbed the Hogan Stand steps together in 2013 to claim Liam MacCarthy, bonds have been forged for a lifetime and Clare powerhouse John Conlon is a particularly good friend of Bugler’s with the pair chatting every few days – but hurling is not the main topic of discussion.
“John is building a house as well and when we chat it’s gas; we talk about hurling for about five minutes and other stuff for the other 25 minutes, mainly house stuff as it takes his mind off the games,” said Bugler.
“John has always done everything by the book the way he’s looked after himself, he’d be unbelievably dedicated and he’s just in the richest vein of form of his career and, lucky for us, he keeps maintaining it. “It’s not really a surprise to me that John is playing that well because I’ve seen what he can do. Even before the start of the year I wanted to see him either at full or centre-forward and he even told me himself he didn’t like playing on the wing anymore. “He didn’t feel his game was improving with the way wing-forwards are being asked to play now, clocking up kilometres up and down the channels. He wanted to be staying up front and in the thick of things and doing something valuable with the ball you get.”
The duel between the Clonlara attacker and Galway full-back Daithí Burke will be one to set the pulses racing and Bugler feels it will go a long way to deciding whether Gerry O’Connor and Donal Moloney’s men can upset the reigning All-Ireland champions.
“You could argue that they are the two pound-forpound best hurlers in the country at the moment and it’s going to be some battle because you’ll have two heavyweights going absolutely hammer and tongs at each other,” the 33-year-old said.
“If John can curtail his influence that’d be a huge boost for us because as well as Daithí being an excellent hurler, he’s an inspirational leader for them. When he catches a high ball, wins a free or gets a hook in, it seems to lift Galway, so it’s a key battle.”
While acknowledging that “all the pressure is on Galway” as hot favourites, Bugler feels Micheál Donoghue’s side may still be a step ahead and he finds it difficult to find any holes in the Tribesmen.
“There are very few chinks in Galway’s armour because it doesn’t matter what way teams play against them, they have the artillery to adapt to it. Be it sweepers, a physical battle, a short running game or long ball, they can deal with that,” he said.
“The best way for us to take them on will be to spray the ball about and try to avoid the real physical confrontations around the middle third, move the ball quick and unsettle Galway.
“If they rely on route one, that won’t work with their aerial ability while you’re also hoping that a couple of their big guns have an off day like they did in the drawn Leinster final.
“With Conor Cooney and Jason Flynn possibly coming off the bench, you’re trying to stop eight quality forwards and that’s going to be a really tough ask of our defence. It might be a step too far this time around.”