Nov 17,2024
What a year it has been for John Conlon.
Last autumn saw his club Clonlara end a 15-year wait for a Clare county title and then come the height of summer the Banner, after again losing a Munster final to Limerick, found renewed life in the All-Ireland series to bring Liam MaCarthy back to the county for the first time since 2013.
In between a Division 1 league crown was won.
Much satisfaction then for the veteran defender, who is still going strong.
On Friday evening, Conlon was named the Gaelic Writers' Association Hurling Personality of the Year for 2024. He was not present for the awards, supported by the Dalata Hotel Group, which took place in the Iveagh Garden Hotel in Dublin. The now customary team holiday for the All-Ireland winners and the fundraising trip to New York in advance has Conlon elsewhere. That said, the 35-year-old did sit down with the media prior to his departure to reflect on the last 12 months.
On Clonlara coming out on top again in a most competitive championship, he said: "After we won in 2008, everyone thought we'd go and win a few more.
"We got to a lot of semi-finals and finals but just never seemed to be able to get over the line. That elation to be able to, relief I suppose, to get back to the winning enclosure and just to see the joy.
"It was like a new team that had come in the last year or two. And great work by Donal Madden and his management team. It was just amazing for the club, and just that feel-good factor.
"And we kind of went on a bit of a crest of a wave then with the semi-final of the Munster championship and getting through that in Thurles and and then getting on to play Ballygunner. That was a great experience for everyone to see how good the Ballygunner team are."
A similar expectation, in that more success would follow, in the wake of Davy Fitzgerald guiding Clare to ultimate glory in 2013, was also apparent. And while Conlon admits that it wasn't for the want of trying on behalf of all involved, the arrival of Brian Lohan as manager, he feels, was key to providing that extra impetus.
"A bit like the club, I suppose when we won with Clare in 2013, and it's very similar, obviously with all the U21 success, you just thought that Jesus we're going to be successful going forward.
"That wasn't for not trying, we kept pushing the boundaries every year, but it just didn't seem to work.
"Two or three different managements and just things couldn't work.
"Since Brian has come in, he just brought that bit of steeliness to us and put a lot of ownership on the players, and the players took a lot of responsibility on. He got great lads around him to train the team, good S&C and the different aspects that are needed at inter-county.
"Everyone's just bought into it. I've often heard Shane O'Donnell say, I know we've all referenced this, the last three or four years have probably been the most enjoyable experiences playing on a hurling field for the Clare jersey. It's just because we've taken on the responsibility of the jersey.
"And the new championship, the way it is with the Munster championship, you get to play two games in Ennis every year, which are full, 18,000 people inside in Cusack Park is a cool experience for anyone, and it's just just a pure ground that everyone's in on top of you and we love playing there."
Elaborating more on the 'Lohan' effect, he added: "People love, I suppose, Brian Lohan and they've got that massive affiliation with the team.
"And just to win this year, then I suppose the relief of actually getting something to back up the great performances that we've we've performed over the last few years and actually back it up with two trophies is important for legacy and history."
In 2013, Conlon starred in the attack; in this All-Ireland triumph, he was deployed on the '40, though he would not fancy stepping back further to patrol the last line of defence.
The hurling education continues for the two-time All-Star. Things have changed a bit over the course of a decade. "I suppose the way the game has gone, even from the half-back line, you're nearly setting up scores, scoring scores, like it's kind of changed a lot maybe to what it was ten years ago," he added.
"Now you're kind of reading the game and lads are working back the field to help you out. Maybe before it was a one-on-one contest, but one place I certainly wouldn't like to be anyway is full-back or in the full-back line. Once I stay away from there, I'm happy.
"It's a different role, just in the use of ball. One thing looking forward from a coach's perspective is, I would always say nearly if you could play in the backs for a while or in the forwards, just to get and see different aspects of the game.
"I was lucky enough to play in the forwards and then understand things that I'd hate to happen to me or just be able to read the game, well, this is where I'd move now if I thought the ball was coming. I suppose I'm using my forward's head in the backs now, when I play for the county and for the club I'm back up in the forwards again and trying to move a centre-back out of the way.
"I got a total different perspective since going back into defence of how to move in the forwards. It's interesting and a cool thing to kind of observe and understand."
"It's funny when you when you go back to the backs, you kind of get into this brain freeze of you need to use the ball well. It's been a cool, very interesting period, and I suppose, brought something a new lease of life to me at 31.
"Rarely you see a guy going back the field at that age. It brought a lot more enjoyment to my hurling down the latter stages and I'm forever grateful for Brian for thinking or the management for having the faith and putting me back there, trusting me because there was a lot of people at the start kind of giving out about it and and saying it was a mad move."
As things stand, Conlon is on board for 2025. "If Brian gives me the call, I'll be back alright," he says.
Before that there is the team holiday to Nashville and Miami and his continued input with Loughrea. Conlon is part of the backroom team for the new Galway champions. Offering advice is how he sums up his role with the side who ended an 18-year wait for county success when defeating Cappataggle last Sunday.
So how did that role across the border come about? Well, the Loughrea influence previously had a say in Banner affairs, as Conlon outlined: "In 2018, Tommy Kelly (Loughrea manager) and Gavin Keary (trainer-coach) would have been involved with us in Clare. I built up a great relationship with the two of them.
"Tommy kind of got on to me last year and said would I get involved, just kind of be there on match days as much as I could. And last year, I couldn't really give it much of a commitment because Clonlara went so far and they were just crossing over too much.
"This year they said would you still stay involved, and then once I got knocked out with Clonlara, I got full time involved, but it was more an advisory role more than anything else.
"They have enough coaches and they have a very good, nearly inter-county setup with all the coaches and trainers that they have. They've some set up for a club team, so it was just more about being there and give a few nuggets here and there and be there on match day.
"Not every one of them, but as many (training sessions) as I can. I'm not from Loughrea, so I suppose it's a great thing at club level that you don't have a massive vested interest and and I can make calls, I can say something, you're just giving your advice as you see it.
"Giving advice to the lads before matches or leading up to matches, and it might just be a word. As I said to them, if it's a percentage to get them over the line, it was important. To see the joy in their faces was a cool thing as an outsider, I'd never of experienced something like that with someone different, another club that you're involved with."
