A right tough bit of stuff by all accounts. Football people through and through.
Tubs has given 40 or 50 displays like that for Clare over the years. itās a pity there isnāt more tv coverage outside the top 8.
Heās also now the all time highest NFL scorer.
From what I can see aside from Pat OāConnor who is out for the year and the likes of Donal Touhy, Stephen OāHalloran and David Mcinerney who have been injured in recent weeks pretty much everyone else on the 38 man panel aside from Eamonn Foudy the 3rd choice keeper has seen the field.
The backs are still exactly what we thought they are but there are plenty of green shoots and the team looks to be taking shape and looks a lot stronger and balancd from 8 to 15 than it was last year. We have a nice blend of being able to play off the shoulder to runners but also go direct to Shanagher inside. While the Antrim game was a Terrie start they have bounced back well and had spells of fine hurling in the three games since. Kilkenny next weekend should be a great barometer.
Doubt our back line is good enough for us to consistently win games. Full backline canāt really deal with much pressure while Conlon isnāt the answer at six but looks like he will be persevered with. But if there or four of that 8 to 15 play well we will compete with anyone and put up a score.
Iād expect it to be the below come championship
Quilligan
Hayes-Cleary-David MC
Ryan-Conlon-Brown
Galvin-Malone
OāDonnell-Kelly-Aidan MC
Rodgers-Shanagher-Galvin
Positive signs there yesterday, workrate was very good, weāll need that to be excellent against Waterford, but we just donāt have anything like the back 6 to compete with the top 3 or 4.
Yeah, you would think that if teams really want to go after us and look for goals they will create countless opportunities.
I think Limerick and Galway would best us comfortably but I would give us a punchers chance v Tipp and Waterford while we are as good as the rest and it could go either as we all have the same issue which is a lack of quality defenders.
Personally Iād be equally worried about tipp, especially if callinan is back inside. But we seem to be as strong now as ever upfront, surprisingly thatās without conlon.
We were a lot more solid second half when Cleary tightened up on Hayes. Our FB line has a tendency to retreat into the square and theyāre too far off it when play breaks in front of them. Coming out then against forwards who have first run on you is not going to work well. Theyāre all better playing off the front foot attacking the ball, high-risk as that is.
Conlon is doing okay but I donāt see him developing that quickly as the 6 to cover and cut out the opposition ball. We are going to have to be brave and go man to man and hope we have a good enough day up front.
David Mc starts instead of Ryan Taylor, switches to wing back with Aidan McCarthy
Dunno what Quilligan was at there 
Aaron Fitz replaced by Paul Flanagan, not sure was it a bang in the ribs
GAA | JOHN CONLON INTERVIEW
Conlon is back after tearing his cruciate ligament
DIARMUID GREENE/SPORTSFILE
Denis Walsh
Sunday June 27 2021, 12.01am BST, The Sunday Times
A week before the first lockdown, John Conlonās knee caved in. In everyoneās life the pandemic had turned plans to putty, but Conlonās knee couldnāt mend without a firm schedule and a sunny outlook. The operation to repair his cruciate ligament was fast-tracked, before elective surgeries were disrupted. After that, Conlon made a bubble, for him and his knee.
His garage was transformed into a gym: benches, squat bars, dumb bells, mats. Years ago Conlon had donated some equipment to his club, Clonlara, and while the club gym was out of bounds, he borrowed it back. He painted the walls and installed a TV, for atmosphere. On Zoom he established a relationship with the Clare physio and one of his cousins in Edinburgh, both of whom had expertise to give. From there, he plunged into his recovery. Within weeks, he was squatting up to 50kg, pushing.
āIād be very driven,ā Conlon says. āI was down in the dumps for a week or two, but once I got on top of it, I looked at it as an opportunity to see how I could get back better. I did a load of research on the ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] and researched loads of things about my body. I was working on my weaknesses and getting all my other niggles sorted out. Before I got injured, I could barely do any long running, my back was killing me, I could barely sit down. I got all of that sorted.ā
Because the championship was delayed until early winter, the possibility of recovering in time flickered in the distance. It was a mirage. In the lead-up to Clareās All-Ireland quarter-final against Waterford, Conlon took part in a couple of contact sessions, but he was trying to cheat time and the Clare management had the wisdom to be patient. In his mind, though, he had already crossed a threshold.
āSince I got injured, Iāve come back with a totally different mindset,ā he says. āIt wasnāt that Iād gotten sick of it, but I had been struggling with injuries for a while and I was just kind of saying to myself, āI donāt know how much more I have left? Would I better off just going back to the club and relaxing with them for a few years?ā
āI only realised what I felt when I was away from it. I remember the first training session back with the club [last summer], I was trying to do a bit of running, but I couldnāt because I was limping, and I was nearly in tears. I kind of got a love back for hurling that I had probably missed for the last few years. Every time I go training now Iām getting there an hour early, just to go out and puck around and mess around. I said Iām going to go out with a smile on my face.ā
Before his knee went, Conlon had reached a point in his career where people make hand-me-down assumptions. Only a couple of his peers were left from the team that won the U-21 All-Ireland in 2009, and the team that won the senior All-Ireland four years later was scattered beyond recall.
When they beat Cork in the final game of the 2019 Munster round-robin it was only good enough for a fourth-place finish, and they were eliminated from the championship on scoring difference. Nobody was touting Clare as a team with prospects. A week later Conlon turned 30.
Conlon in action for Clare against Tipperary in 2019
INPHO/JAMES CROMBIE
āWhen you hit 30, you know, everyone keeps asking you, āAre you going to keep going?ā That question. āAre you going to keep going?ā I remember two or three lads asked me after the Cork game, āWill you give it another go next year?ā And Iām not thinking about anything. Iām not thinking about not giving it another year. Once you hit 30, though, you kind of go into that mindset, āThereās not long left.āā
A new management came in and asked Conlon to be captain. Years ago, in his early 20s, Conlon did a stint as vice-captain, and at the time it seemed like they were empowering the new generation with a seat on the board. In that role, Conlon was perfect. He had a big-match temperament with a lust for combat, and on the field he exuded presence. Over the years, though, the captaincy passed to others. The Clare team that won the 2013 All-Ireland wasnāt short of leaders, and maybe they knew that the armband wouldnāt make any difference to Conlon.
āI would still have said the same words, and gone around encouraging lads and helped out any way I could. Thatās the way Iāve always been since I joined the panel. I was never afraid to say what I thought. If a fella deserves a telling off, Iāll give it to him. If someone needs an arm around the shoulder, thatās what Iāll give.ā
After 2013, Clare got tangled up in all kinds of expectations that they couldnāt control and they couldnāt meet. Like the rest of them, Conlonās form was in and out. In that circular process, his search for small gains carried on regardless. It is about ten years since he first enrolled for sports yoga classes; soon after that he took up Bikram yoga. Among hurlers, it wasnāt common practice. He started getting up an hour earlier in the mornings so that he had time for yoga before work, and all these years later that routine continues.
āIād be funny, Iād try anything. Iād be very open to everything.ā
When Clare brought in a nutritionist in 2018 Conlon changed his eating habits. He was always conscientious about his diet, but in matches he often felt bloated and couldnāt understand why. The nutritionist suggested that they carry out tests on his digestion, and in the backwash Conlon changed his diet dramatically: he cut out red meat, bread, milk, peppers, tomatoes ā foods that he loved but werenāt agreeing with him. He even started blending his food for a while.
For whatever reason, Conlon had a storming campaign in 2018. In the middle of the summer he appeared on every shortlist for Hurler of the Year, and by the end of the season he was an uncontested pick on the All-Stars team. Clare returned to Croke Park for the first time in five years, but lost an epic All-Ireland semi-final to Galway in a replay. Conlon suffered a partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament in the drawn game and probably shouldnāt have played six days later. Nobody stopped him. He wasnāt for stopping.
What felt like a good year, though, had left them with nagging maybes and an uncertain future. āThe night we lost to Galway, I remember someone saying to me āAh, weāll work hard and get back there again.ā And I remember thinking, āItās a long road to get back there.ā That was a big opportunity. One that got away.ā
For Clare, last yearās championship started and finished with wounding defeats. They needed to think again. In the close season, the management met every player for an individual debrief. At the end of Conlonās meeting one of the Clare selectors asked if he could play anywhere else on the field. Conlon had been a career forward, first at 12, then at 14, but the question seemed like an afterthought and he didnāt think it was leading anywhere: with Clonlara, he said, he had done a spell at centre field and at centre back, but not for long.
Conlon thought no more about it until Clareās third night back on the training field, about five months later. They were warming up for a practice match when one of the selectors sidled over: they wanted to try him at No 6. āIt was a bit of a shock to the system,ā he said. āI just said Iād embrace it. Pity I didnāt know earlier. In the training I was doing on my own during the lockdown I was training to be a full forward. I was flat out shooting. Jesus, I never shot so much.ā
In the GAA, the League is for research and development. A lot of the stuff that is tried, never makes it to the marketplace. About Conlon, though, Clare were serious. He needed to change tack.
āWhen I go up to the field now [for extra training] I have 30 sliotars and Iām trying to hit these poles [as targets]. Youāre trying to hit longer, pin-point passes. In the matches, youāre taking chances with some of those passes, but youāre given the licence to make that mistake if it goes wrong.
āThe level of detail in the game now is crazy. The skill levels are crazy. The amount of time you spend in the field on your own has probably doubled from when I started with Clare [in 2009]. At times the stuff youād get before and after matches, youād nearly want to have a maths degree to read it. Iād be in to that kind of thing, but Iām sure there are lads who hate it.ā
In Conlonās comeback match they lost to Antrim in Belfast. For Clare, the only consolation was their No 6. āI know it wasnāt the best result, but in my own head I was thinking, āIām after getting my first game in 15 months.ā I was very disappointed we lost, but deep down, I was over the moon to get through a game injury-free, feeling good, feeling fit.ā
They missed him
Conlon is a good lad. Good to see him back.
Waterford 2-2
Clare 0-4
Very poor after a bright start, a barrowload of wides kicked. Waterford full-forward has done well for both goals. They also have a chap at 15 wearing some kind of goggles.
I need more detail here. What kind of goggles exactly?
Half-time
Waterford 2-2
Clare 0-7
Shook themselves a bit in that quarter. Not much of a breeze in it either way, all to play for.
Heās gone off, photo evidence will not be forthcoming
Waterford 3-3
Clare 1-9
Second half waterbreak.
Gave away a hames of a goal after getting a bit of breathing space. Waterford on top at midfield, and our counter-attacking game plan isnāt doing much.
I wonder did Davy know of the DPP decision before he made his pre planned post match outburst? Either way he was putting money ahead of his job as Wexford manager.
The article says the decision was handed down recently but doesnāt say exactly when. A waste of taxpayers money already having Gardai pursue this. Anything posted on that page was an attack on the way he ran Clare gaa and not abuse.
How do you figure that?
Civil case for daddy. He still wants his gps money from Clare and the future prospect of coming back as manager. Lot of fund raising unaccounted for too.
Itās always about money with Davy imo
