Donal Moloney hails John Conlon’s leadership
If a hurler of the year was picked today, John Conlon would be edging Galway’s Pádraic Mannion for the title and his co-manager Donal Moloney has commended the leadership shown by the Clonlara man.
Conlon is in the form of his life but it has been his determination to set an example in the dressing room and on the training field in Caherlohan as much as in action that has set him apart in Moloney’s opinion.
“He has been tremendous for us. John is 28/29 (29 since last Saturday) so he’s been instrumental in driving things so we have greatly encouraged him to lead and to set the tone and the agenda. They are all very capable guys off the field so we are really trying to tap into that as well.
“John’s voice has been clear all year. He’s been very prominent in any meetings or discussions we’ve had. He has amassed a lot of experience. He’s a guy that a lot of people look up to because it’s not just words, it’s his actions.”
Clare sources tell of a speech Conlon gave earlier in the year in which he vowed to give the best version of himself this year and boy has he backed it up.
“We would hope that all of them took a conscious decision,” says Moloney. “We knew to improve further it wasn’t necessarily down to more sophisticated coaching, more drills or longer hours on the training field. A lot of it is down to guys being able to manage things on the field of play.
“The game now is so complex, so fast-moving, you really need players who understand what is happening and make those decisions. It’s hard to measure but you’ll see the decision-making, the application, the responses when things go wrong. The communication. You’ll see all of that, those little actions. They are the guys you want.”
With that player ownership in mind, something Gerry O’Connor spoke about earlier this week, Moloney feels Clare might not have been in a position to seize their chances last year even if they did hit the woodwork twice against Cork in the Munster final.
“We weren’t probably ready to beat Cork or to beat Tipp last year, some of the chances, you will always point to those but Cork missed chances as well. Tipp missed goal-scoring chances in the quarter-final. It wasn’t the reason we came up second in both of those games.”
Now without over half a dozen of the 2013 All-Ireland winning panel and injured Aaron Shanagher, Clare’s progress should be considered in an even better light. “We are fortunate at this point in time in Clare that we have probably the strongest group of senior hurlers we’ve had in a long time and I think we had plenty of time to take stock and adjust.”
Although Conlon has more than filled the role, Shanagher would be just the guy to complement Clare’s ability to alternate between short-passing to direct ball into full-forward. What was done to go all the way in 2013 wouldn’t be sufficient now, he suggests.
“In 2013, Clare had a specific style based on huge fitness, great athleticism, brilliant teamwork, a lot of running with the ball, breaking the tackle, beating the man – that’s still very much part of the game but the game has switched back to more long ball, or a variety of ball, short and long.
“Also, the levels of fitness in the last few years have gone way up. Back in 2013 teams thought they were exceptionally fit but we’ve seen how that has gone up and up – you know that by the GPS stats. Not just the distance but the high-speed running. You expect every guy in the middle third to be able to run 100 metres up and down for nearly 70 minutes continuously. That’s the reality of every top team now.”
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