Clare starlet Kelly ready for 2014 challenge

Hurler of the year Tony Kelly is relishing his marked man status heading into next year’s championship.

The 19-year-old is the first player to collect both the hurler and young hurler of the year awards in the same season and understands the extra attention he is likely to receive as a result. Kelly, though, isn’t fazed in the slightest.

“It would be worse if teams weren’t looking at you, then you’d be doing something wrong, so I suppose I am doing something right,” laughed the All Star centre-forward.

“At inter-county level, every forward is top quality. Other guys like Joe Canning have had to deal with that since the first year he came in and before he even pucked a ball, he had to deal with it. It’s just something you take on board and I’m sure Davy and the management will have a trick up their sleeve to try counteract it. You just have to work at these things and I am looking forward to it, more than anything.

“You will have to deal with it, it is part and parcel of the game now but the thing about Clare now is we haven’t just one or two forwards, we have six forwards. That’s the bonus, if you take one forward out of it, another lad can step up to the plate, like Shane O’Donnell did in the All-Ireland final. That’s what we have been trying to get all year that if one forward has an off- day, that another one is going to step up and hopefully it will be the same for next year as well.”

Kelly claimed all involved in the Banner set-up are enjoying their status as All-Ireland champions, remarking, however, that Fitzy won’t be long in penning the opening lines off their 2014 campaign.

“He’ll have the page turned over pretty soon when we come back [from Shanghai]. Once the National League starts, it’s a completely new year — there will be nothing spoken of last year. It will be back down to business straight away.

“I don’t think it will be difficult to turn over a new page going into 2014. Especially with Davy there you will swear we had won nothing last year and we are going for the first one again. That is the way he has always worked it. Even after the replay you would swear there was no drawn game it was straight back down to business, there was no word of it and that’s the way he likes to do things. He likes to do things with a professional edge and he likes to start fresh every year.”

Rewinding to last January when targets for the campaign were set out, Kelly never dreamt his 2013 season would end on the other side of the world, adding he didn’t even think All-Ireland senior honours would befall Clare, not least when Patrick Horgan propelled the Rebels ahead with time almost elapsed in the drawn final.

“The perfect end to a perfect season. Not many of us thought we’d be in Shanghai at the end of the year. It tops off a fantastic year for us.”