Mark Rodgers: 'To right those wrongs and finally get over the line was brilliant'

AMAZING FEELING: Clare’s Mark Rodgers with his grandmother Ann. Picture: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Mark Rodgers didn’t raise a green flag during his first two championship campaigns with Clare. When he finally broke his duck in the 2023 opener against Tipp, he broke it on the double. Between then and Sunday, he had added four more.

Alongside them were notable green flag misses, though. Potential game-changers not taken. There was his shot blocked by Kilkenny’s Conor Fogarty in the first half of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. There was his off-the-post effort in the 58th minute of last month’s Munster final, at a time when Clare trailed by five.

And then there was Sunday. Forty minutes in, he collected a breaking puck-out between the 45 and 65-metre lines and took off past Seán O’Donoghue. One side-step and driving finish later and Clare led for only the second time.

“It was probably a case all day that any time anyone got the ball in the attacking half of the field and once you broke the line at all there seemed to be huge space,” 23-year-old Rodgers began.  “It just kind of opened up for me. Look, I've missed enough of them this year to know that they don't always go in. I was just delighted that it did.

“It's great to score but if you go back and watch, I think it was Reidy who got a brilliant flick on the break. That sets it up. Without that, the ball never breaks and you don't get the space in behind.  

“There's so much that goes into a goal like that. Eibhear hit a brilliant puck-out as well. It was just a relief really that it went in because I'm not sure that I hit it at a great height.” 

Chatting to the roving forward at a humming InterContinental Hotel on Monday morning, the late night that preceded it had not in any way dulled his ability to articulate the “amazing feeling” that was and is being an All-Ireland winner.  “Last night was really special, not only for us but for partners, families and supporters of the team. This team has probably been on a journey over the past couple of years and we've suffered a couple of crushing defeats, particularly in Munster finals and All-Ireland semi-finals. To right those wrongs and finally get over the line was brilliant.” 

You lose and you learn. After the 2022 and ‘23 Munster finals, they’d not been able to fully recalibrate. They took a different approach following last month’s third consecutive provincial final defeat.  “After the Munster final, we reset better than we've done before. We took a week off after the game and really refocused. We trained really well and we knew we were going really well in training. The last six weeks have been amazing.” 

What it all leant itself to was an unshakable belief that more and more could be eked from the collective. They knew at half-time in the semi-final against Kilkenny, despite trailing by five and having not shown up, that their 2024 story would not end on that note.

Similarly on Sunday, there was no sense at the end of regulation time that the opportunity had gone from them.

“We're very comfortable in our own bubble, our own circle, and there's a lot of power of unity in that group. When you have something like that, you can take an awful lot of confidence from it.  

“As a result, I think we perform really well in those high-pressure situations, particularly in the last couple of scenarios we've been in. Yesterday was one of our more complete performances this year, which was really satisfactory for management and players.”