This article is from page 72 of the 2011-12-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 72 JPG
CLARE’S new under 21 hurling management team will have “a blank sheet” when selected their squad to challenge for provincial and AllIreland honours in 2012, incoming joint-manager Donal Moloney has revealed.
Speaking to The Clare People ahead of the 2011 Munster minor hurling medal presenation, outgoing joint-manager Moloney, has pledged “a back to basics” approach to the management team’s new role with the county under 21 side.
“It’s a very, very different campaign at under 21 level,” says Moloney, “and we’re delighted that the majority of the management team are continuing on with the under 21s.
“It’s a very difficult grade because the access we would have had to players at minor level is not going to be the same. We will have to work very, very closely with the senior set- up, with Davie (Fitzgerald) and with the colleges, because 95 per cent of these players are in college. It’s a challenge and how we deal with that will determine whether we’re going to be successful or not,” he adds.
With the scale of this challenge in mind, Moloney, admits that success can’t be taken as a given, despite the stirring successes at minor level in 2010 and ’11 when the county achieved back-to-back provincial minor titles for the first time ever.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion,” he says. “Players develop in different ways. Look at the likes of Limerick this year. They won the Munster under 21, whereas they were really nowhere at minor level.
“Players develop differently. You can have a lot of late developers who come through at under 21 level, while some guys who were there at minor level might not progress as fast.
“We would be hopeful of success, but we don’t have a good record. Clare have never taken a minor side – any of the previous minor sides that have won something – and transferred it into a Munster under 21 title.
“That’s something we’re going to have to monitor very closely because in terms of picking our panel we have gone back to basics. We have a blank sheet to make sure we assess people properly in terms of where they’re at now, rather that what they did a year ago, two or three years ago at minor level,” he adds.