Conor Cleary reckons Cork have the “form full-forward line in the country” as he prepares for a man-marking challenge in the All-Ireland final.
The Clare full-back, who deputised as captain for Tony Kelly during the Munster championship, marked Alan Connolly at the start of their round-robin clash before being switched on to Brian Hayes.
The decision whether to assign Cleary to hat-trick specialist Connolly or semi-final man of the match Hayes will be a key decision for Brian Lohan.
The Banner defender’s instincts to protect the square could mitigate Connolly’s threat but his stature would make him an ideal candidate to tag Hayes.
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Either way, Cleary has been impressed with Cork’s red-helmeted dangermen.
“They’re excellent players. All year, they’ve been very good, the two of them,” he says. “Traditionally, over the years, anyone who’s been playing in the Cork forwards are all really good stickmen, real fast, real eye for goal.
“At this level, especially the bigger games, you’re going to be up against the top forwards in the country. They’re great players, they’re in great form, and you’d have to be impressed with their games the last day.
“The Cork full-forward line were brilliant. To get 1-4, 0-3, and 0-3 is a fair return from the inside line and they’re probably the form full-forward line in the country at the moment.”
Clare occupied the privileged position of getting to watch the Cork-Limerick semi-final knowing they had already earned their place in the showpiece event.
Still on a high from that victory over Kilkenny, Cleary believes witnessing Cork’s performance was the best way of grounding the Clare players for the final.
“I watched it at home with my girlfriend. She’s mad into it as well. It was nice to be in a situation where we were qualified for the final and to be able to watch a game like that.
“It was a great game, a very high standard. We know how good a team Limerick are so for Cork to beat them not once but twice in the one year just shows the quality team they are too.
“Watching the game, you knew then there was another level. The Cork-Limerick game was probably a completely different level to our game. It would definitely bring you back down to earth and we know there’s a huge task ahead of us now.
“If we perform the way we did Saturday, Cork will have an easy day. But it was great and we’re happy to be there.”
When the sides met in April, Clare emerged on top in a 3-26 to 3-24 classic, having played the final 18 minutes with an extra man. Cleary believes both teams have gone to another level since then.
“We’re under no illusions about that game because they’d a man sent off in the second half and we really got a foothold in the game from then on in. If they had 15 men on the field, it could’ve been different.
“That game feels like an awful long time ago now and both Clare and Cork have come on in different ways since then. It’s really hard to know until you actually play the team to see how far you’ve come and how far they’ve come.”
Cleary considers the experience in the Clare camp as vital for shaking off their defeats to Kilkenny and Limerick in recent years.
“The maturity in the panel and the attitude the management brought towards it made it easier to deal with the losses over the last two years.
“It helped in ‘22 and ‘23 that there was a bit more maturity there in the team. In ‘17 and ‘18, a lot of us were young and at the start of our careers but in ‘22 and ‘23, you know you’ve to be making the years count.”
Back in 2013, Cleary was in the Upper Hogan watching his schoolfriends; one scoring a hat-trick, another earning the Hurler of the Year award as they took home Liam MacCarthy. The Miltown Malbay native would join them in the senior panel that winter.
“I was 19, just out of minor. I would’ve been the same age as Shane O’Donnell. I was absolutely delighted because I would’ve been on development squads with him at 14, 15, 16, and if that was to happen to anyone you could meet, it couldn’t happen to a more grounded, humble fella.
“We were in secondary school together only the previous year. It was crazy at the time but it’s a testament to him as a person and his mindset how he dealt with it and the career he’s had after it. He’s been brilliant.
“I was delighted for everybody. I would’ve been in secondary school with Tony [Kelly] and them lads as well. It did light a fire under a lot of lads to push to get on to the panel and come through to play hurling.”
