"There are men, then there are men, then there's Sean McMahon."

So said former Clare hurling manager Ger Loughnane in his book "Raising the Banner" of the two-time All-Ireland winning centre back, who is regarded as one of the Banner's greatest ever hurlers. Retired from the inter-county scene since 2006, Sean (or Seanie as he's affectionately known by Clare fans), is now immersed in underage coaching with his beloved St. Joseph's, Doora-Barefield, with whom his three boys Darragh (nine), Eoin (seven) and Cathal (six) play.

"I'm training the U16s and give a hand out with the U6s, U8s and U10s as well. The U16s have reached the quarter-final of the 'B' championship and we're looking forward to that," he explains.

That's not the only game Sean is looking forward to, of course. On Sunday, Clare will contest their first Liam MacCarthy Cup decider since 2002 against Cork. And the following Saturday, their highly-rated U21s will bid to retain their All-Ireland crown at the expense of surprise-packets Antrim.

"It's a wonderful time for Clare hurling," he enthuses.

"It's great to see the buzz coming back again. As Davy Fitzgerald said after the Limerick game, Clare haven't gotten to too many All-Ireland finals in their history so you have to enjoy them when they come around. It would be the icing on the cake if we could go and win the final now."

While admitting that he didn't expect Clare to be in hurling's showpiece game at the start of the year, the legendary number six is urging Davy Fitzgerald's young side to make the most of an opportunity that may not present itself again.

"Like a lot of people, I've been pleasantly surprised by how quickly they've developed. It's easy to forget how young a lot of these fellas are - 14 or 15 of them are still U21. Back in April, when they played Cork in the league relegation final, I wouldn't have fancied them to reach an All-Ireland final, no more than Cork would have fancied themselves to reach the final.

"For the past year or two, you could see this team had huge potential, but I didn't expect them to get up to this level so soon. The performance against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final was the big turning point in their season. Now that they're in an All-Ireland final, they have to make it count. It's all about the here and now. With the way the economy is, some of these lads mightn't be around in a couple of years. They mightn't get this chance again and they need to take it when it's there."

McMahon believes the tactics employed by Fitzgerald and his selectors Mike Deegan and Louis Mulqueen are tailored to suit the youth and energy that's in the team.

"A lot has been made of Clare's short-passing game, but I think they've gone away from that in the last few games. They've tweaked it and improved it," he maintains.

"The game has changed greatly from my time in that tactics play such a big part now. Everyone knows that Conor Ryan lines out at centre back and Pat Donnellan plays behind him as the sweeper. They also know that Clare leave Conor McGrath and Darrach Honan on their own in the full forward line and when the ball comes out of the defence, the likes of Colin Ryan, Podge Collins and Tony Kelly break quickly from the midfield and half forward line to get up and support them.

"The team has great pace and youth, and they are using it well. But you can be sure Jimmy Barry-Murphy has been studying Clare's tactics closely and Davy may have to come up with something different for the final."

Sean doesn't think Clare's eight-point defeat to Cork in June's Munster SHC semi-final will provide any extra motivation.

"It might be a slight advantage to us that they have beaten us already in the championship, but it's an All-Ireland final and you're going to be motivated regardless," he points out.

"I think it's a 50-50 game. If we can improve on winning our own puck-outs, we'll stand a great chance. Cork have very sharp forwards that will need to marked a lot tighter than they were in the Munster semi-final. That's what beat us that day, and I'm sure Clare will have worked hard on that aspect of their game.

"We have great momentum - so have Cork - and I'd take huge encouragement from the fact that we're getting better with every game. We always had a five-or-six-point lead on Limerick the last day, but we can't get carried away with that because Limerick didn't perform at all and never got into a rhythm."

He continues: "If we can breakeven with the puck-outs, we have very good forwards who are capable of doing damage. We are very lucky in Clare to have such a great bunch of talented young fellas who will have big futures in the game if we can hold them together. The clubs have to take a lot of credit for bringing them through and making them the hurlers they are."

Sean also feels his former team-mate Davy Fitzgerald deserves enormous credit for leading his new-look side to the brink of hurling immorality.

"Davy has brought them a long way in just two years. He got them promoted to Division 1A in the league last year and has built on that. He has got it right tactically in most games this year and I'm confident he'll be able to get it right again in the final."

How does the current team compare to the one Sean starred on in the 1990s and 2000s?

"It's hard to say," he replies.

"We were probably physically bigger, but this team has huge mobility, pace and skill. It's hard to compare because the game has changed so much since I was playing."

Regardless of the result on Sunday, Sean expects the Banner's young guns to be fully focused on their All-Ireland U21 final showdown with Antrim six days later in Thurles.

"They've been combining the two grades well so far and I don't think keeping their feet on the ground will be a problem for them. They'll rightly be favourites, but I'd be disappointed at Antrim for making such an issue of not wanting to play in Thurles. That was the venue chosen for the final at the start of the year and I think they've been out of order by looking to have it changed at this late stage."

During his illustrious playing career, Sean enjoyed many great battles with Cork. In the Banner's breakthrough year of 1995, he famously played on after breaking his collarbone following a collision with Mark Mullins and won the sideline which Fergie Tuohy took and resulted in Ollie Baker scoring the winning goal. Ten years later, McMahon experienced his most disappointing defeat when the Rebels came from six points down in the last quarter to win by a point and deny Clare a place in the All-Ireland final.

Sean's inter-county career spanned from 1994 to 2006, during which he won two All-Ireland medals (1995 and '97), three Munster championships and three All Stars. He captained his county from 2003 until 2006, and was honoured with the Texaco Hurler of the Year award in 1995. A long-range free-taking specialist, he holds the distinction of being the highest scoring back in the history of the All-Ireland championship with 0-97 from 51 games.

At club level, McMahon won his first Clare SHC medal in 1998. Provincial success followed and on St. Patrick's Day 1999, he won a coveted All-Ireland club medal as St. Joseph's defeated Rathnure of Wexford in the Croke Park decider. Later that year, he won a second county medal as well as a second Munster club title. He won his third Clare SHC medal in 2001. Sean retired from club hurling in 2009 at the age of 36. Tweet

Most Read Stories