Clare hurler Aaron Cunningham.
By Cian O'Connell
"It's probably the first time in years that it is really wide open, all the six teams fancy themselves and fancy a chance of winning it " Aaron Cunningham remarks about the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Another action packed weekend awaits with two fascinating Quarter-Finals scheduled for the revamped Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Cunningham's inter-county career has been hampered by injuries so dealing with that frustration can be tough.
"That is it completely," Cunningham admits. "Any time I was going well, felt I was getting a setback and even last year I played all the League games with Clare and was going well and then we'd Club Championship two weeks before the first round of Championship, the hamstring went again and ended up missing out.
"The way it's so competitive with the inter-county team when you've 35 lads there, you don't be long going from 14 to 30. You slip back a lot and it's hard to get back in again."
Now, though, Cunningham is primed to make an impact for Gerry O'Connor and Donal Moloney's Clare. Losing the Munster Final to Cork was a blow, but Clare must regroup quickly ahead of Saturday's Tipperary tussle.
"I think it's brilliant that way," Cunningham states. "Even after the Limerick game, we were successful, but you still have the five week gap and you're still thinking over analysing the Limerick game whereas now we can't do that, we've a brand new challenge ahead and I think the two week gap suits us down to the ground."
Aaron Cunningham in Munster SHC Semi-Final action against Limerick.
O'Connor and Moloney's in depth knowledge of this Clare team combined with Donal Og Cusack's coaching ensures the Banner are in a healthy place according to Cunningham.
"I think everything has been going really well," Cunningham says about the Clare set-up. "We've a great bond in the camp and to reach the Munster final obviously was a progression from the last few years because it was something we couldn't do and the two lads and Donal Óg and the rest of the training team have been brilliant. We're just disappointed with how it went, but we're very satisfied with how things are going."
Is a lack of confidence an issue for Clare? "It seems to be a case of playing in spells really whereas we need to put the full performance together because a lot of people have said that 2013 was a kind of a fluke and a flash in the pan," Cunningham answers.
"But we've kind of used that to drive us on to prove that it wasn't really. We definitely need to be more consistent and try to hurl for as close to 70 minutes as we can, rather than hurling for five minutes here or there."
Dealing with the Tipperary challenge is what is dominating Clare thoughts presently. "I think they were written off a few weeks ago and nobody expected the performance they put in against Dublin," Cunningham remarks.
"It was a bit stupid really because they're All-Ireland champions and the quality of hurlers they have, they're unbelievable.
"They beat us in the League and beat us well too. It's a huge battle for us going down there playing Tipp in a do or die game. I suppose we can just prepare as best we can to try to have a lash off it."
