Just days before Ireland ground to a halt in March of 2020, John Conlon’s hurling career came crashing down around him.
At Clare’s last training session before the country’s first Covid lockdown was announced, Conlon suffered a cruciate injury. It could have been a fork in the road moment for the Clonlara clubman, but rather than feeling sorry for himself he instead zoned in on his recovery and reckons he returned a better player.
Which is hard to argue with because on Tuesday the 33-year-old was named PwC Hurler of the Month for April.
“I was very disappointed to do such a thing [cruciate],” says Conlon. “But I remember at the time I had so many problems, my ankle, my back was at me, I was barely able to get through a training session.
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“In a way it was a blessing in disguise. It gave me the chance to literally go off and get a strength and conditioning [qualification] with Setanta College. I also went off and did personal training with Setanta College, and just researched loads of things about the injuries and the different ailments I had.
“I was able to really focus on them for 12 months. I came back a better player in my own eyes, got to sort all those niggles and was able to get on top of them. I can move better on the field and know what works for me better and what doesn’t work for me.
“It was a great time for me, personally. I put a lot of structure in place that really helped me. It gave me more years the other side.”
During Covid, he first busied himself kitting out a gym in his garage before spending countless hours using it to make him stronger.
“We were after building a new house, I lived out there, put a TV in there and everything,” he recalls. “I’m probably as fit and hitting times and different targets now like I was probably hitting back in my early 20s.”
His man-of-the-match display in Clare’s show-stopping win over Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds provided further evidence that Conlon is currently showing some of the best form of his career.
[ The Schemozzle: Conlon family enjoy a day to rememberOpens in new window ]
And yet that wasn’t a game without distractions. He was best man at his brother’s wedding that day, with the reception taking place in the Castle Oaks in Castleconnell. So he popped away from the wedding to play against Limerick. Just before he took to the field, Conlon received a message telling him his speech was being delivered at that very moment.
“I had it written out for one of my brother’s best friends, so he was the second man in command and he read the speech out for me,” smiles Conlon.
“The two families would be big GAA people and most of the people at the wedding would have been in the Gaelic Grounds [otherwise]. Everyone was really excited by it and delighted I suppose with the result. It made it a lot sweeter and better on the day as well.”
Conlon tried to make a low-key reappearance at the wedding that night, but it was a plan with some fairly obvious flaws.
“I actually made my way in the back door and went over to the bar to a few cousins and had a pint, chatted away for a few minutes,” he recalls. “One of the bridesmaids saw me then and the first dance was coming, and before that she dragged me out on the dance floor and everyone was roaring.”
This Saturday, Clare face Waterford in a crunch Munster SHC clash at Semple Stadium. The Davy Fitzgerald factor always tends to be raised whenever the Banner come up against him, but Conlon says there remains a strong bond between the Clare players and their former manager.
“The level of professionalism and the way he changed the structures within Clare hurling, within the whole group, how we prepared for games, how we prepared on and off the field, I’ll never forget him and I’ll always thank him for such a great thing that he did for us,” says Conlon.
“For all the years that he was there he just brought that level of professionalism and energy around the group. I’ll be forever grateful for the great work that he did for me, as a player, as a person, and I know all the other Clare lads have great respect for him because of that.”
– John Conlon has been named as the PwC Hurler of the month for April, with his Clare counterpart Keelan Sexton picking up the football award. Kayleigh Cronin (Kerry) and Beth Carton (Waterford) are the ladies’ football and camogie winners respectively.
