Mark Rodgers pictured at Croke Park as Centra announced an extension of their sponsorship of the All-Ireland GAA Hurling Senior Championship for another five years. As the longest serving sponsor of the competition, 2025 marks Centra’s 16th year sponsoring the All-Ireland GAA Hurling Senior Championship. Photo credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
By John Harrington
Clare attacker Mark Rodgers says it’ll be curtains for the Banner County in the Munster SHC if they don’t find the sort of consistent spell of form that eluded them during an Allianz Hurling League campaign that saw them relegated from Division 1A.
On Sunday they play recently crowned Allianz Hurling League champions Cork in the first round of the provincial championship at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg. The same Cork that stitched six goals past them in the same venue just six weeks ago.
The Clare players are very aware that if they can’t rise to the challenge then it’ll be another painful afternoon.
“We got our rewards last season, but we're back in a position now where we're starting from the ground,” says Rodgers.
“We've had a poor league campaign where we’ve been relegated, and we have to reach a pitch, we have to reach the level, that Cork are going to be at.
“The biggest disappointment, I suppose, throughout the league was not only that we were kind of… that we were up and down in terms of consistency across the league, but we were up and down within games as well.
“So we could put a good 15 minutes beside a bad 15 minutes. And you know, if we do that in any of the games over the next four in the Munster championship, it's going to be curtains.
“I think the last couple of months, we have been slowly getting better, getting better. We've been very up and down in games. We've been very up and down across the league as a whole. But yeah, to put some consistency in our performance and be ready for Sunday week is the thing.
“When you have a bad performance there's some harsh lessons from that, but it's important that you take them on board. And it's always coming from within our circle, in fairness, it's really good.
“We have a tight ship in terms of Brian leading it, and Brian is continuously driving us to get better and to maximize the time we spend together. And yeah, I think if we could do that, we'll be in good shape.”
In attendance at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy’s continued sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is Bord Gáis Energy ambassador and hurling star Shane O’Donnell of Clare with Logan Clifford Hegarty, aged 6, at Croke Park in Dublin. The announcement marks 16 years of Bord Gáis Energy’s involvement in inter-county hurling and celebrates the excitement, spirit and pride that make the championship and its fans so unique. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Shane O’Donnell’s announcement this week that he hopes to play for Clare again this year was a welcome boost, but his timeline of recovery from shoulder surgery means it’s unlikely he’ll feature in the provincial campaign.
If Clare are to make it out of Munster, they’ll have to somehow cope without the reigning Hurler of the Year.
“He's so unique as a player he’s hard to replicate with just one player,” says Rodgers. “I think it's going to be a collective burden. We're all going to have to up our games. But like I said, someone is gonna have to step in for him. And you know, here is a lot of opportunity, there's a lot of possibility with that.”
Rodgers has learned a lot from hurling with O’Donnell and believes he and his team-mates can put those lessons to good use in his absence.
“So much. Like, on the pitch, you see a certain amount of things, but when you watch it back afterwards, you see another 100 things that he does so well. His vision, he's just been brilliant to play with in terms of, if you make a good run off him, you're going to get the pass.
“If you put yourself in a good position, he'll give you the ball. Often he would come out of games and he might not have scored too much, but he has such an impact in the game.
“Like, he’s responsible for nearly everything good we've been doing the past couple of years. And, like I said, to try to replicate that is going to be very difficult but it's also it's an opportunity.”
Rodgers played a lot of his hurling out on the half-forward line last year but in O’Donnell’s absence there’s every chance he’ll be played closer to goal.
Mark Rodgers of Clare in action against Mike Casey of Limerick during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A match between Limerick and Clare at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile.
A lethal finisher, he scored 7-55 over the course of the 2023 and 2024 championships. Early in his career he had a tendency to be a little hard on himself and to chase the game rather than let it come to him, but at the age of 24 he’s now looking very strong mentally as well as physically.
“Possibly, I'm definitely more relaxed about it now than I was,” he admits. “I find it just allows me to prepare better for a game.
“Physically, I wouldn't have done much different. I've done an awful lot of work in the gym with Lukasz, as all our players have. I think physically, we've progressed an awful lot in the last three, four years.
“But yeah, definitely having a more relaxed approach has allowed me to prepare better for games.
“There is a lot of patience involved. I mean, a lot of patience and a lot of discipline. You’re playing a position where there could be a couple minutes where the ball doesn't come in, but you kind of have to, there's a reason you're in there, you know, you have to keep your depth and that sort of thing.”
Clare have consistently shown over the last three championship campaigns that they can rise to a challenge, especially when they’re underestimated.
Once again at the outset of the championship they’re not deemed as one of the top two contenders, even though they’re reigning champions.
Does that sort of underappreciation grate?
“We have a very secure circle, if that makes sense,” says Rodgers. “The players and management are very much in one boat, and not much of it filters in, if that makes sense.
“We're very confident in what we have in that group and everyone is comfortable with each other's thoughts and opinions.”
