Clare hurler Shane Meehan pictured at the launch of the Munster GAA Senior Hurling and Football Championship 2024 at Cahir Castle in Tipperary. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Can anyone stop Limerick’s drive for five All-Ireland hurling titles in a row?
For any team to do so, the first challenge will be to believe without any equivocation that they can, which might prove challenging for some.
Not for Clare, though. They’ve lost by agonisingly small margins to Limerick in the last two Munster Finals and beat them in the round robin phase of last year’s provincial championship so they know deep down they can go toe to toe with the heavyweight champions.
That’s probably why Shane Meehan doesn’t hesitate when you ask him can they stop Limerick this year.
“Yeah, definitely,” says the Clare attacker. “You have to believe it first of all. As a group and as a management team we have to believe that we have what it takes to beat them.
“We beat them in the Round Robin last year so it's just about getting it right on the bigger days maybe.
“We were so close the last few years so you're just looking at that and what we can do to push us that bit further.
“When you look back at it and when we analysed the finals there were definitely areas we could improve on so you'd be looking at it from that sense.”
Shane Meehan of Clare is tackled by Tommy O'Connell of Cork during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A match between Clare and Cork at Cusack Park in Ennis, Clare. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Meehan is still only 21 but already in his third year on the Clare senior panel.
Such are the demands now of senior inter-county hurling that players have to serve an apprenticeship on the fringes of the panel before they break into the first XV on a regular basis because there’s such a step up from U-20 level in terms of the physical intensity.
“Yeah, there is. I know in the first couple of years for me it was just about getting a bit stronger and getting a bit heavier. Thank God we've a good S&C to help us out. That was kind of the biggest thing for me.
“The way the game is gone now you're getting pulled and dragged everywhere to fill gaps so you have to be able to do it all. You have to be strong and you have to be able to take a score as well.
“There's serious competition for places now in the Clare team and you just have to hope you get an opportunity and if you're on the bench and you get an opportunity to come on you have to be really tuned in to how the game is going.
“So you watch what happening and keep an eye on where you might be coming on and who you might be marking and just make sure you're really ready to make an impact.
Meehan showed his quality in Mary I’s victorious Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup campaign this year and it’s probably only a matter of time before he’s a regular starter for the Banner.
His apprenticeship will surely be accelerated by training and playing alongside such classy forwards as Tony Kelly, Stephen O’Donnell, Peter Duggan and Mark Rodgers.
“100 per cent. The likes of Peter Duggan, Tony, Sods...there's no shortage of lads to look up to,” says Meehan. “They'd all give you great advice and they’re really supportive.
“If you ask they'd be only too happy to give you any tips they could or even bits of advice when you're coming up to matches and how prepare for them.
“Even watching them in training and how committed they are and how they make their movements, it's really good to watch. The way the game is gone you need to be constantly moving to make space and to make the right moves.
“It might be a move you make that would give the other lad inside 10 yards of space so it works best when you work together.”
