Cushendall are contesting an All-Ireland Club Championship this year

My 2015 predictions were a mixed bag – while doing okay in the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher championships, my choice of Clare to return to the top of the MacCarthy Cup tree fell flat on its face.

So this year, I’m playing it safe. And boring. It has to be Kilkenny. Not that Kilkenny are a boring side. They are of course a joy to watch most of the time and their performance in the second half of the All-Ireland final last year summed them up as a squad of players.

No one was particularly outstanding but a collective work-rate, intensity and will to win brought them their 34th All-Ireland. After a poor league in which Brian Cody looked at a number of positions in the absence of the Ballyhale players, Kilkenny came through the championship with a minimum of fuss, playing a grand total of three games to set up a decider against Galway.

This year, it is likely to be something similar so predicting who is most likely to trip them up is probably a bit more interesting. Last year I predicted Clare would bounce back to regain the MacCarthy Cup and although the Banner had a very poor 2015, I’m plumping for them to be there or thereabouts come September.

The return of Podge Collins will undoubtedly help, not just with his on-field contribution, but he also carries huge respect in the changing room. With the addition of Donal Óg Cusack to the backroom team, two vital elements are likely to improve for Clare – their discipline and their defence.

Both areas were very poor over the past two seasons, and even in 2013 when they won the All-Ireland, their swashbuckling forwards saw them through. Cusack is a great tactician and Clare will no doubt have a new game-plan hatched before a ball is pucked in the league. And contrary to the majority of opinion, and Division 1B is the perfect place to perfect it.

For the Christy Ring Cup, it’s hard to look past the Saffrons. Antrim and Derry are probably the two strongest sides in the competition and are both likely to win their opening games over Kildare and Roscommon respectively and so progress through the ‘A’ route with the possibility of an all-Ulster final in store.

Derry are a bit like Belfast club St Galls – you wonder just what they could do if they put all their energies into hurling for a couple of years. Tom McLean, and many of his predecessors, has had to watch player after player declare for the footballers, while others simply don’t declare for the county.

Down are not without a chance and will cite their Ulster championship win over Derry and one-point defeat to Antrim as proof that they can’t be written off. Antrim however were missing a number of players through injury and holidays and PJ O’Mullan’s ‘clean sweep’ approach seems to have found favour with the players if reports from training and challenge matches are anything to go by.

O’Mullan is likely to add a number of Cushendall and Creggan players to his squad. With Arron Graffin and (probably) Neil McManus both unavailable, Cushendall are likely to contribute less players than in recent seasons but the likes of Eoghan Campbell, Ryan McCambridge and Conor Carson should return to bolster O’Mullan’s squad after the All-Ireland campaign, along with the McCann brothers from Creggan.

But even without the influential Ruairi Og pair, Antrim should lift the Christy Ring Cup on June 4th.

And speaking of Ruairi Og, my next prediction involves the current Antrim and Ulster champions and unlike the previous two forecasts, this one is a bit of an outsider. A rank outsider in fact. And here it is: Ruairi Og, Cushendall will win the Tommy Moore Cup on St Patrick’s Day.

I had a conversation with a couple of club-mates last week who (perhaps with a certain amount of justification) accused me of having Saffron-tinted glasses on, and pointed out that a side who trails to the Armagh champions at half-time in an Ulster semi-final has no business even thinking about winning an All-Ireland.

Indeed the argument was further enforced by questioning if Galway champions Sarsfields would have needed extra-time to see off Slaughtneil.

But form lines don’t navigate such simple terrain. My conviction that Cushendall can win the All-Ireland is down to the manner in which they have come through the Antrim and Ulster championships.

They have been behind in every game – but in being behind showed one of the most vital qualities required to win hurling matches in February and March – guts. They have leaders all over the park and as such will be a match for Sarsfields next month and both Oulart the Ballagh or Na Piarsaigh who contest the other semi-final.

Yes, there is plenty to work on. John McKillop will not exactly be too pleased with the concession of so many goals, especially soft ones like those against Slaughtneil for example, but he will also have noted that Sarsfields are not prolific goalscorers.

They averaged one per game in the four knockout games of the Galway championship so it’s a real 50-50 game in my view.

To complete the predictions for 2016, I’m forecasting Dublin to get relegated from Division 1A and Armagh will lift the Rackard Cup. Bliain Úr faoi mhaise daoibh uilig!