By Cian O'Connell

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Anthony Daly laughs when recalling his introduction to the Munster panel in the 1990s. 

"Lads know each other much better now, I can remember my first time going into Munster training in Boherlahan," Daly chuckles. "I was on my own, my brother dropped me down. Loads in the dressing room. I’ll never forget it, Mick Ryan, the Tipp manager said, “sit down here Anthony” because we were the same age, minor and under-21. Mortified walking in.

"It’s gas now the way they know each other so well. Mingling freely after at the food in the canteen in Dr Morris Park, two Waterford fellas, two Tipp fellas. It’s gas the way times change."

What hasn't altered, though, is Daly's fondness for the game and the Inter-Provincial competition. "With the best will in the world, even in my time the crowds weren’t turning out," Daly admits.

"In the years I played in it, I found that if it went to a provincial place it had a better chance. We still always wanted to play. We were kinda disappointed if you weren’t asked.

"When Clare were going well, maybe six or seven asked to be part of the Munster panel and you’d be, “I didn’t get a call for that at all.”

"There still is that bit of pride with lads. They want to play in it. Looking forward to it. Tail-end of the year. The Tipp lads have had a savage year. Awards, medals hanging off them.

"For other lads who haven’t had a great year, might be nice to finish up with something positive."

For the past four weeks Munster players have gathered in Thurles and Daly is delighted to be involved. "It’s not overly time intensive. You can’t be expecting lads to come to Thurles three nights a week. So we’ve tried for one night a week, four sessions. We got a great response, 20 at training, seven excused between colleges, league finals and stuff on Tuesday night.

"In fairness to the players, Tommy Dunne was taking the warm-up and I was saying to John Mullane, you’re looking out at Seamie Callanan passing it to Cian Lynch passing it to Shane Fives, that kind of thing. In fairness to them, they’re really honoured to play in it, have a great commitment to it."

In October Donal Moloney and Gerry O'Connor were appointed joint managers of Clare after Daly withdrew from the running to succeed Davy Fitzgerald.

"It came out of the blue," Daly recalls. "Couldn’t see Davy going. All of a sudden, when they weren’t appointed, there was a board meeting on a Tuesday night, it was deferred. Then the talk started that he might be thinking of quitting. 

"Straight away there was clubs saying “have you any interest? I thought, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Then there’s clubs on to you then to know would you be interested in being nominated. If you said no there and then you were out. I said, “yeah, sure, nominate me”. 

"I talked to a few people, spoke to Brian Lohan. We both were interested. Then you sort of knew the lads were very interested as well. 

"We met and we’d a pot of coffee and we just said we didn’t want to be going down the dividing people route. Obviously, there would be a ferocious gra as well for the two boys for all they’ve achieved as joint managers at minor and under-21. 

"You’d be friendly with them as well. Brian worked with them at minor level. I would have played with Donal, played against him so it didn’t feel right to be going against them. So we said we’d wish them the best of luck."

Daly reckons that Moloney and O'Connor deserve an opportunity to lead Clare at the highest level. “Yeah, and that was everywhere," Daly says. "That was in the county as well. I had been manager. But I suppose in fairness to Brian as well, he has a Fitzgibbon won and a club title with Cratloe. 

“I took it on when I was young. I was only finished when I went back doing it. You’d always like to think you’d get another shot at it and maybe we will.

“But yeah, definitely the boys were ready for it as well. Natural progression. But maybe there was an inkling with ourselves: ‘were the boys interested?’ Paul Kinnerk had been announced as a selector and coach with Limerick at that stage so we weren’t sure really.

“But we’ll be 100 per cent behind the boys. They’d be the finest types. They’ll have massive backing.”

Daly took satisfaction from his coaching role with the Limerick minor team, who were beaten by Tipperary in September's All Ireland Final. “It was fantastic to be here with the minors. We put up a great display. It was a great Tipp minor team and they gave us a real trimming in the Munster final and the lads really improved in the eight or nine weeks.

“It was great because I hadn’t been back here being involved on All-Ireland Final day since ’97, bar doing a bit of punditry.”

Is Daly surprised at how the Dublin panel has changed significantly personnel wise under Ger Cunningham since leaving the position at the end of the 2014 Championship? “When I was quitting, I wouldn’t have forecast it, in other ways, I can understand a little bit Ger’s thinking," Daly reflects.

“He had to come in to freshen it. I wouldn’t have seen it like that. And I suppose people might have accused us of hanging on to the same fellas.

“But you have to remember, in our time scale, we won in ’13 – that was year five. We won Leinster, that was the one we were craving all along.

“The draw is made for 2014 and you go down and play Wexford in Wexford and we play great stuff. We don’t go so well then here in the Leinster Final and then we’re playing Tipp in Thurles.

“Do you throw the baby out with the bathwater or do you trust the lads that have done it for you? Then we’re gone!

“I didn’t know what would happen. A lot of them were there for the first year. But then Ger wanted to put his own stamp on things.

“The likes of Danny Sutcliffe I would have thought would have played for 10 years solid at that level and would have been one of the best in the country.

“That’s unfortunate. I’m sure Ger would love to have him. But look, I don’t get involved in the ins and outs of it now. I’m down there working with Limerick.

“I know as much as what ye’ know about things. I don’t think Dublin have slipped back in the pecking order. Still Division 1. All-Ireland quarter-final, a bit unlucky the year before against Waterford. Last time again, maybe the 14 men down in Cork, it was tight, like, fine margins and maybe people are judging it on Cork being beaten by Wexford, but here in the first round Dublin beat Wexford handy like.

"Dublin are Leinster minor and 21 champions as well, that didn’t happen too often in our time  either, so there’s a fair depth, although they will be young, I suppose, looking at the fellas that aren’t there."