in the four all ireland finals Hegarty has played in he has scored 3-14 from play and been man of the match twice
in the drawn final and replay Tony Kelly got 6 points from play and no man of the match
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It’s outstanding. Cometh the hour cometh the man
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The Limerick fellas resolutely chipping away at the Clare fellas very soul
his one last year was even better and you’d clare fellas saying he wouldn’t get a game for a junior team in Clare 
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And he didn’t score in 2018
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Hego’s score late in the second half last Sunday when he picked the ball out of the sky from Nickies puckout and struck the ball over the bar into the Clare end suggested to me that he is back.
All of the teams left in the championship need to watch out.
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He’s only a junior hurler and hasn’t been on a team that’s overcome the ultimate test, beating a certain team in an AI final, he’s a nobody.
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Kelly’s like a ballerina. He’s a very different physique to a lot of todays hurlers. He’s absolute joy to watch and in full flow he’s as good as anybody around today. He’s a lot of it done too. Stuck a goal v Limerick in 2012.
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Totally agree.
Genuine question, is he a team player though?
Unbelievable talent but why has he won so little. I don’t recall him creating too much for the players around him. It seems to be more so about him getting off as many shots as he can, which is fair enough I suppose.
He should go back to the football
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The real comparison with Tony Kelly is Declan Hannon im amazed nobody has picked up on it.
Both rose to prominence in the late 00s as potential saviours in counties short on success.
It all happened so quickly for Tony Kelly. Within three seasons he’d won an all Ireland and 3 21s.
Hannon had his troubles with injuries and the 2013 all Ireland hurling semi final which was tough on him. He completely rebuilt himself to become the most successful captain off all time in hurling.
In the back round then you’ve kinnerk who was a key man in both players careers.
look they’re both great players… this nonsense of comparing lads is really juvenile truth told. They’re different.
The things that’s scary about Tony Kelly is he had to play for years out on the top of his toes because his Achilles/Heels were fucked… he could hardly run
A fella from Caherline was telling me about this Hegarty fella back in the autumn of 2015 after he had a run in with a few of them in a junior semi-final. I hadn’t noticed him in the barrage of scoring Limerick produced against Wexford in that years U21 final but I was a little underwhelmed when I heard he’d only scored 0-1 against Caherline. I thought my mate was completely overrating this Hego fella at the time.
With the two Hegarty brothers you’d imagine they’d gain a bit more traction to scale the heights. Would they field their own underage teams?
He was magnificent against Dublin in that 2012 qualifier in Ennis too. That was a real coup for Clare at the time and paved the way for the All-Ireland winning season the following year.
A big huge ginger fella?
I don’t ever remember him playing much hurling. I remember him playing football alright. He surely hurled with the likes of Jason and Brendan Mullins. Jason hughes who was playing soccer in Birmingham city for a while would have been on his team too I’d say. Possibly older.
When he was called into the 21s that year I know a few assumed he’d be used as a target man in the last 20 minutes type.
Even after 2018 and 2019 I wouldn’t have been shocked if he’d drifted off the starting 15. He wasn’t effective in many games. His turnaround since 2020 is nothing short of sensational. I can’t recall many players improving so much at that age. He deserves immense credit.
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Took Ballyea to an All-Ireland final too. They had some grand players like Gary Brennan, Pierce Lillis, Niall Deasy etc. but Kelly knitted it all together. You really have to admire a great who produces it for his club too. He’s definitely a team player when you consider those feats.
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Going in with the Limerick footballers for a year was the making of him.
Well documented that he was a bit behind S&C wise. He caught up very well in 2015 in fairness as a brilliant starting member of the half back line alongside Byrnes and O’Connell.
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