No team could have coped cope with injuries and absences like Clare's
The elation of last July already feels a long time ago in Clare.
Following their defeat to Tipperary in Ennis on Saturday, the All-Ireland champions are on the brink of elimination before the final round of Munster SHC fixtures.
Barring a specific sequence of events – Cork beating Limerick and Waterford, Tipperary beating Waterford and Clare beating Limerick – or the less likely scenario of Clare making up big score differentials on Cork or Limerick while both finish on three points with Tipp, they will become the first champions under the round-robin system not to qualify for the knockout stages the following year.
They would also be the first holders not to reach the next All-Ireland quarter-final since their most recent defence in 2014.
However, former Premier midfielder Shane McGrath believes Banner boss Brian Lohan has been dealt a tough hand this season.
"Every real Clare hurling fan is so proud of this group," McGrath told the RTÉ GAA Podcast. "They have to be, because they have given it their all. A brilliant summer last year.
"But unfortunately, the nature of it is, with injuries and the round-robin, they haven't had anywhere near their full group since the All-Ireland final last year.
"Clare had only 50% of their defence from the final. No Conor Cleary. No Diarmuid Ryan. John Conlon only comes on [late].
"They had lads playing and we know they are not at 100%. But they have never given up.
"Tony [Kelly] is not himself, even given what he did [scoring a penalty and some outrageous skill to flick the ball to hand with his foot]. Shane O'Donnell and David Fitzgerald [came off the bench].
"Aidan McCarthy played a match for his club [at the weekend] so he clearly walked off the panel.
"If Limerick had no Dan Morrissey, Kyle Hayes, Diarmaid Byrnes, if Cian Lynch was not fully right, Gearóid Hegarty came on but didn't have the same impact, and Aaron Gillane walked off the panel and played a match for Patrickswell...
"That's basically what happened to Clare, in a comparative way.
"David Reidy has been immense. The goal that Mark Rodgers got, these lads really did step up. But I don't think any team could cope [with the losses].
"In any squad there are probably 18-20 players the management will look to and when you have to go outside the 20, the quality becomes less."
At the same time, McGrath was heartened by the determination shown by his county men, who had let a nine-point interval lead slip by the 63rd minute but rallied to win by three points for their first provincial victory in 748 days.
"All those things [mentioned above] are factors but at the same time, you're going down to the All-Ireland champions. It's a draw game against the wind, all in all it's a mighty victory for Tipp.
"Tipp were the better team throughout the game. In the first 11 minutes they had five wides. The game could have been done and dusted at half-time.
"The Clare crowd love this team. Even when they were down that much, not one person would be leaving the stadium. They got behind them. But the Tipp lads showed great character, great resolve. They found a way to win it.
"A great victory for Tipp. I don't know how much more this group can do to get the Tipp supporters out now to support them this Sunday [against Waterford]."
McGrath singled out the contribution of his former team-mate John McGrath, who hadn't started a championship game for almost three years before the opening-round draw with Limerick but scored a brace of goals in that game and again against Clare.
"They went route one for the majority of the game and it worked, for no-one more so than John McGrath.
"Against Cork, with the extra defender, two forwards inside, you're asking John to do a lot that he wasn't going to be able to. But against Limerick, three inside, 2-01, against Clare, three inside, John gets 2-03.
"He might not have the pace with his feet but his pace with his hurling brain makes him four or five steps ahead the whole time."
Watch The Saturday Game this weekend from 9.40pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Watch a Munster Hurling Championship double-header, Tipperary v Waterford and Limerick v Cork, on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
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