This article is from page 67 of the 2011-02-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 67 JPG
IT was an exceptionally busy weekend for Liam McHale when attempting to balance the two loves of his sporting life, gaelic football and basketball. As the leading pundit for the National Cup finals in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, the Mayo native had a packed schedule but was also determined to get the best out of Clare on Saturday when taking on the might of Kerry in a game that he concluded even before a ball was kicked was ‘more about the performance than the result.’
Overall, McHale is an advocate of the two sports complementing each other as he outlined on Friday’s RTE radio show Sport At Seven when previewing the basketball finals.
“I know because of the GAA ban in November and December, there are a lot of teams doing conditioning work vis-á-vis lifting weights and they are also playing basketball two nights a week in a gym. So I know there are a lot of teams that are trying to do two months of that type of training and we in Clare have looked into doing a bit of it as well. It can be tiring at times and it can take a little bit out of you but as regards becoming a very good footballer, I would recommend that most young boys and girls play basketball as their secondary sport to improve their evasive skills, to improve their passing and to improve their defensive qualities because they are the things you work on on the basketball court with your coach.”
While Clare failed to upset Kerry on Saturday, there will be no tears shed as priorities for 2011 centre around gaining promotion from Division 4 of the National League, hardly a slam dunk either when assessing the fixture list, according to McHale who also spoke exclusively to The Clare People at the weekend.
“It’s going to be very difficult and because the way things have played out, it’s going to be even harder for us this year. We have the Connacht champions Roscommon coming down to Division 4 as well as Fermanagh who were in an All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo in 2004 and should have beaten us. A lot of players that would have played that day and have being playing for the last four or five years are still involved so they are obviously a very quality outfit. We also have the likes of Wicklow and teams like that away from home. It was laid out better for us last year in terms of fixtures but we’d like to think we are better this year and better equipped with more strength in depth to get on with it and do well.
“However, in saying that, the Leitrim game is massive for us and I know being a Connacht man how difficult Leitrim are to beat in Carrick-on-Shannon. So if we can come out of that game with a victory, I think that will bode well for us for the season. Obviously if we lose that in the competitive league that we are in, you are going to be playing catch up from the get go and you don’t want that.”
So after a year’s experience in Clare football, how does the former AllStar rate the current county squad?
“We are better than we were last year. We have more strength in depth with some new guys along with Timmy [Ryan] and Rory [Donnelly] back in the fold so we are delighted with that. There are also some younger guys pushing hard like Cathal O’Connor, Conor Ryan, Shane Brennan, Michael Foran and David O’Brien so we feel that stronger squad-wise but at the same time, we are not entirely happy with what were are doing when we get the ball to the middle of the field.
“Some of our decision making is poor and we are not scoring as much as we’d like. We’ve done an awful lot of work, this year and last, on scoring goals when we get the opportunity. My philosophy is if you get four goal chances and you score two, you are better off than scoring four points. I’d like them to be aggressive and I’d like them to get their decision making right and stick those goals. We haven’t been scoring as many goals as we had last year but I’m hoping that will come with the more work we do.”
In addition, much of the talk from outside the camp surrounds the introduction of three players from other counties on the GAA’s parentage rule but again McHale pulls no punches when putting the onus of responsibility on the newcomers’ shoulders.
“Niall [Browne] played on Saturday and he’s obviously a big addition; David O’Connor missed the game with a pulled hamstring and Adrian [Cahill] has a lot of work to do and obviously is not fit enough for intercounty football yet and it is entirely up to themselves how they will fare.
“If a footballer of average athletic ability and average talent applies himself correctly and gives it one hundred per cent, he can play intercounty football. He might not be as good as the Gary Brennan’s, the Rory Donnellys, the Alan Clohessys or the David Tubridys of this world but he can get himself in great shape if he has the right work ethic and has the right attitude. He can play some sort of part on an inter-county team, be it a Clare team or a Kerry team or a Mayo team or whatever.
“So everyone is going to get a fair crack of the whip and we will be hoping that these fellas can apply themselves well and work hard as they are currently doing in fairness. If the three new guys can do that, they will get their opportunities and when you get your opportunities at this level, you’ve got to take them because there are not too many second chances.”
So while last year’s promise of Division 4 success evaporated and this year’s McGrath Cup honours have eluded Clare, is garnering silverware essential for the county in 2011 or is the priority simply about continuing to climb the footballing ladder a few more rungs?
“I spoke to the County Board last year and I liked the approach they had. They were very realistic and they said that their aspiration for the moment was to get out of Division 4. They weren’t talking about winning Munster titles and beating the powers of the game in Cork and Kerry so I thought that that was realistic.
“It’s a difficult challenge but it’s a realistic challenge so if we can do that, be it first or second and obviously I’d love to come first but whether as champions or runners-up I would say that it was a successful year. If we can achieve that and circle the wagons, and take a deep breath, then it’s all guns blazing for Cork away from home. Right now we want to concentrate on the league and that means heading for Carrick-on-Shannon in good shape both mentally and physically.”
In basketball parlance, the opening trip to Leitrim is definitely more of a three pointer than the two that are actually at stake.