HURL NEW LEVEL
Clare star deserves to be ranked one of game’s greatest ever says Bugler
BY PAT NOLAN
CLARE coach Brendan Bugler believes John Conlon’s versatility puts him alongside the game’s greatest ever players.
Last year, Conlon won an All Star at centre-back to go with his award form 2018 at full-forward.
That places him in an exclusive club of players to have been selected in both defence and attack that includes Brian Whelahan, Tommy Walsh, Ken Mcgrath, Brian Corcoran, Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh and Kyle Hayes.
The 35-year-old put in an outstanding display at centre-back in Clare’s recent Allireland final win over Cork, adding to the medal he won in 2013. Indeed, on occasions over the course of the season, Conlon was even shifted out to left half-back.
Bugler (right) played alongside him in that team 11 years ago and was drafted into Brian Lohan’s management team last winter.
“If you think about it, he won an All Star nominationin 2012, he was b r i l - liant,” he said of Con- lon(left).
“He won an All Star nomination in 2013 and won an Allireland as a wingforward. Goes up full-forward, was the focal point, brilliant year, Clare’s best hurler in 2018.
“Then he was asked to go back centre-back, goes back centre-back and wins his All Star and wins his All-ireland now as well.
“If you think about it, everyone puts Brian Corcoran and Tommy Walsh in that bracket as the greatest versatile players of all time. John Conlon in my eyes has to be one of the greatest versatile players.”
Although Conlon had played at centre-back at club level for Clonlara, moving him there in 2021 at 32 was something of a risk and it got off to a bad start as Clare suffered a surprise defeat to Antrim in that year’s League opener.
That game was also Tipperary native Shane Hassett’s first after being added to the management team by Lohan as a strength and conditioning coach, though he has since taken on a more general coaching role.
Hassett said: “You kind of know a hurler when you can see a hurler. A good hurler can play centre-back, normally a good hurler can read the game can play centreback and John obviously reads the game if not better than anyone else.
“So yeah, we tried him that time and obviously we came away there with our tail be
tween our legs, but the whole season kind of took off then and we built the team around John nearly, for all the world, after that.”
Conlon was one of seven survivors from the 2013 panel to win a second medal this year along with David Mcinerney, Tony Kelly, Shane O’donnell, Seadna Morey, Peter Duggan and Paul Flanagan, though given the age profile of the team back then, it wasn’t expected that it would take as long to even reach a final, not to mind win one.
“Really, really disappointing because obviously when you look back and especially watching back over the game from 11 years ago, we should have kicked on and we just didn’t kick on. There’s multiple reasons, we won’t go into them today,” he said.
“The fact they were so young that time and probably expected they’d get back there, not necessarily the year after, but get back there again reasonably soon after ‘13, but it didn’t happen like that.
“It took 11 years to get back there, so I’m sure they’re going to cherish it and I think myself and Shane we’re going to cherish this.
“In this Championship, it’s hard to win a game, not alone get to a final, not alone win a Championship.”