IN MARCH 2020, the uncertainty heightened for John Conlon.
The pathway forward for the country was unclear as the grip of Covid started to tighten. A serious injury was an unhelpful complication to throw into the mix.
Conlon tore his cruciate in training for Clare, just a few days before lockdown. Plenty time to ponder the future for a player with over a decade’s county senior hurling experience in the bank.
He was an All-Ireland and All-Star winning forward then. Look at him now. A defensive colossus in the Clare ranks, pivotal to their Munster final ambitions tomorrow.
All achieved just two weeks short of his 34th birthday.
“The sign of the man really like was how he reacted when he got badly injured,” says his former Clare team-mate Colin Ryan.
“I’m sure like the rest of us would be feeling sorry for ourselves. And what did John, he goes off to get an S&C diploma to try and work out how to be better and how to be fitter. He always had a drive in him, he always had a resilience in him too. Obviously he got a lease of life as well, going in centre-back.
“When you think about players that you could take out of this Clare team currently, and they could survive with or without, obviously after looking at the All-Ireland semi-final last year (Conlon was injured), he is a vital cog.”
Conlon and Ryan grew up a half hour drive apart, Clonlara and Newmarket-on-Fergus two hurling communities only separated by Sixmilebridge in between. When the clubs met in the 2008 Clare senior decider, Conlon’s outfit triumphed by three points to end an 89-year wait for glory.
Their hurling first lives intersected in St Flannan’s. Ryan was part of the Dr Harty Cup and Croke Cup triumphs in 2005, Conlon was a year behind and played in final losses in the following two seasons.
They charged forward from there and burst onto the Clare county scene. A pair of attackers in the 2008 Munster U21 final loss that was soured by a controversial late winner for Tipperary. Amends was made a year late in style in the province and that was followed by a landmark All-Ireland victory, Clare’s first at U21 level. Between them they account for 12 of Clare’s 15 points in a slender success over Kilkenny, Ryan’s placed ball striking supplying nine and Conlon clipping three from play.
That summer, as a substitute against Tipperary, Conlon was first noted as a senior hurler.
“When he came on to the Clare team, he maybe didn’t have the flexibility and the agility that he has now. He’s really put a lot of work into that himself. As players, you work out what your weaknesses are and you try and figure out you know, how best you’re going to survive in the intercounty set up.
“John worked really hard with it, but he was always a hard worker, he always wanted it. He always had a fierce drive in him. That want to play with Clare, he definitely had it from an early age.”
2009 was a springboard, 2013 the ultimate hurling deliverance. Conlon and Ryan were in the half-forward line, stationed on opposite wings as Clare lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup, contributing a combined 0-9.
“When we were under pressure, you’d want to isolate John, you’d want to get him on the ball. When things got hard, John would come up trumps, he’d win a dirty ball or he’d win a hard ball and he’d get a score.
“He always a leader as well, he was always a good talker even, even when he came out to that team at an early age.”
Ryan had drifted away into retirement by the time Conlon’s next chapter was written as a barreling full-forward, wreaking havoc on opposition defences in 2018. Clare’s summer ended with an agonising semi-final loss to Galway but Conlon had been terrific all through. The All-Star was justifiable after he shot 1-27 from play across eight games, illuminating Clare’s performances.
“If I thought of a one man inside line before then, you probably wouldn’t be thinking of him,” says Ryan.
“But it was just the way he moulded himself into that role and the ability to win every type of ball that came into him, the runs he was making and then obviously he was manhandling full-backs and getting scores.
“The mark of the man is how he has changed throughout the years and adapted. He’s been an ever-present for Clare because of his leadership. Every manager has come in and picked him and he’s been central to everything they’ve done.”
The adaptability was tested further when he came back from his cruciate injury. Brian Lohan threw the curveball at him in the spring of 2021, he was being recast as a centre-back.
“I suppose it was a funny move at the time.
“The biggest compliment I could pay John is how, he’s been able to learn the role and to not go for pot shots and to not bring that forward mentality into the role.
“I often say, you know, I think Tony Kelly could see out his career at number six for Clare. You know, he’s that type of a player. The way the game has gone you need a thinker back there.
“You need somebody who is able to read the game and you see Declan Hannon there. It’s amazing how the roles have changed throughout the years.
“John’s got real patience, he’s a great man for looking up and not giving the ball away. Sometimes you need that calmness and tranquility at number six when the whole thing is chaos around you.”
Even in retirement Ryan has maintained a connection with Conlon, one of the few survivors from when they soldiered together a decade ago and scaled the hurling heights.
“We were always kind of chatting to one another. Students of the game in the sense that we both talk out how things are going, how they’re not going, how we can improve.
“We’d have been sponges that way in the sense that both of us would have wanted to get better. But we’ve always been closely linked even to this day, you know, like we meet up and grab a coffee and chat about the game and talk about things.”
Conlon is the elder statesmen of the Clare team and Nickie Quaid, just by a couple of weeks, will be the only player older on the field.
The Clonlara man is into his 15th championship season, a remarkable feat of longevity. He remains integral, as evidenced by being best man at his brother Patrick’s wedding in April and that evening producing a barnstorming display as Clare toppled Limerick.
Leaving a Munster senior final on a winning note is the last box to tick after suffering three defeats.
“I had a conversation with him in the off-season and I think you know if Clare weren’t going as well, if they didn’t have that run last year, there’s a good chance, he might have called it quits,” says Ryan.
“When things are going well and there’s a sign that you might be successful, it’s a lot easier to stick in. He’s having a great year again this year.
“When you have good memories of how well you’re playing and how things are going, you stay going as you’re pivotal to the team.
“At the minute, I don’t see John leaving any time too soon. He’s still playing phenomenally well. I think Brian would do everything, I think to try and keep him there.
“I’m delighted for him that he’s getting the recognition of legendary status. He’s put a lot of time into Clare hurling, he’s getting that reward now.”