Conor Cleary of Clare leads out his players before the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship final match between Clare and Limerick at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
If Clare are to win back to back All-Ireland senior hurling titles for the first time in the county’s history, then they’ll have to somehow elevate their game to an even higher level than they did last year.
The addition of a new player or two could help in this regard, but ultimately it will come down to the ability of last year’s All-Ireland winners to find an extra five per cent.
That’s not always an easy thing to do in the year after winning the ultimate prize because success can sometimes dull a sportsperson’s edge.
When you’ve been pushing yourself for years and years to make marginal gains, achieving a long-time goal can sate ambition.
It doesn’t sound like that will be the case for Clare full-back, Conor Cleary.
Rather than bask in the reflected glory of last year’s All-Ireland Final win, he feels like he has a point to prove in 2025 because he thinks he fell short of the standards he sets for himself last year.
“Even looking back on performance last year personally, coming into the All-Ireland and having been through the League and the championship, you'd be happy with some games you played but you wouldn’t be happy with other games you played,” says Cleary.
“The motivating factor for me going forward is that in some of the games last year I felt I underperformed in or didn't perform to a level I was happy with. That's a huge motivating factor because I know myself I didn't perform to the level that I would be happy with.
“So, my goal this year is to have more consistency in my performances.”
Conor Cleary of Clare celebrates after the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Clare and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
Cleary dislocated his shoulder in last year’s All-Ireland Final and underwent surgery on it in September.
He had initially hoped to be back in action by January this year, but he’s had to be patient with his rehab.
“When you're rehabbing after surgery you have to hit certain markers and I haven't hit a ball yet but I've been working on my running fitness over the last couple of weeks,” says Cleary.
“Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later but I haven't hit my markers yet that I need to in order to be cleared to play.
“It's all down to the physios and when they’re happy. Throughout my career with Clare we've been lucky to be very well looked after in the medical department and you just have to trust them and I do trust them to be patient with the process because at this level you're getting really high-quality advice and I just have to listen to them now and come back when they give me the all clear.
“It's important at this level to get your body right because when you go out there no-one's going to be taking it easy on you.”
