DONAL MADDEN CAN’T conceal the fact he was surprised.
In his eyes his Clonlara club-mate John Conlon was a forward. His attacking colleague in 2008 bridged an 89-year gap to capture the Clare senior hurling title, the experienced free-taker Madden rifling over seven points and the youthful Conlon chipping in with two.
Madden watched with rising pride as Conlon won All-Ireland medals as a forward at U21 and senior level in Clare colours, and later an All-Star in 2018 for his exploits at number 14.
And then in the post-Covid era, a curveball was thrown in Conlon’s direction. He had been reinvented as a centre-back.
The defensive fulcrum of the Clare team, he took the seismic shift in his stride and claimed an All-Star at number six last year.
“Sean Stack the great Clare hurler was over Clonlara in 2015, and Sean was the first guy I suppose to put him back there, and he played really well in the club championship,” recalls Madden.
“I was involved myself in 2016 with him and put him back up to the forwards. And then Clare were searching for a centre-back and I suppose Brian had tried a number of players.
“Look, he obviously wasn’t happy there, and he put John back there. At that time, was I surprised? Yes, I was.”
In a way Madden’s view hasn’t budged. He was Clonlara boss last autumn when they reclaimed the Canon Hamilton Cup, Conlon the only survivor from the 2008 victory and installed at centre-forward on this occasion.
“I still see him as a forward, he got man-of-the-match four times for us last year. But I think Brian’s decision to put him back there has been justified and he has had some fantastic performance.
“He kind of sits in a holding role which allows David McInerney and Diamuid Ryan to push on, and it provides a lot of cover there in front of Conor Cleary. Even to do that at the time of his career, it wasn’t something he went back and did it at the age of 22 or 23.
“Like he went back playing centre back around 31 years after winning an All-Star full-forward in 2018. Crazy stuff really, when you think about it and to do it at that level, to re-invent yourself at that hour of your life.”
Conlon’s endurance and resilience does not surprise Madden. His strength of character continues to impress the Clonlara manager.
“Life has been a rollercoaster.His Mam had a serious farm accident and his Dad had a serious illness this year, and thankfully, both have came through. That has played away in John’s mind as well, trying to go out there and perform for Clare at the highest level.
“These are human beings, and they have feelings and emotions and everything and lives outside of the hurling field. In 2008 his mam, Bridget was nurse, masseur, mother, guardian to every one of us, as players on the team, like she’s a huge person in our club.
“His dad, Pat, would be on field committees. He’s involved with the Junior B team this year, has managed the local senior team, managed underage teams the whole way up along through John’s career.
So they’re huge club people and are big people in the paris. Everyone was worried about them and thankfully, things are on the up. I’ve no doubt they’re really looking forward to seeing their son run out behind the Artane Boys band on Sunday.”
Conlon was pegged a long way out as a talent that hopoes could be pinned on. He’d shone in the college arena for St Flannan’s, breaking into the club senior setup as a 16-year-old. Madden had also worked with him in the Clare minors and as a former NUIG alumni, revelled in seeing Conlon hit the winning point in 2010 to end the Galway college’s 30-year wait for the Fitzgibbon Cup crown.
“I was over our U14 team the day John won a Fitzgibbon Cup and we had a bus up to watch the match and we played a challenge on the way up and Ian Galvin was there on the U14 team, and John was scoring the winning point. So it’s funny, and now they’re both playing together for Clare.
“Even at a young stage, you could see that this was a guy who had a huge thirst and hunger to get better and learn.
“His enthusiasm, his energy and his work rate, you knew he was going to have a long career ahead of him.”
Conlon emerged as part of a golden generation in the club. It’s 15 years since Clare made their All-Ireland U21 breakthrough, with a third of the team from Clonlara as the O’Donovan twins, Domhnall and Cormac, Nicky O’Connell, and Darach Honan also started.
In that pulsating encounter, Conlon shot three points and was handed the man-of-the-match accolade as Clare triumphed.
“He just has an ability to turn up in clutch moments,” says Madden.
“The ability to perform on the big day. In that Fitzgibbon Cup final. He actually got taken off and got brought back on again. And who got the winning point an extra time to win the Fitzgibbon Cup? It was John.
“When we beat Kiladangan in the Munster club semi-final last year, who’s the guy with the ball in his hand, bringing it out in the last minute when when we were under serious pressure? It was John.”
In the Clonlara dressing-room, Conlon is the elder statesman. His wider exploits afford him an iconic status, but it was the energy of youngsters that he fed off last season, that mix enabling them to end a 15-year wait for a Clare senior championship.
Madden feels it’s given him a new lease of life.
“We hadn’t been performing for quite a number of years on the pitch. A lot of people had worked really hard and tried really hard.
“But John was very frustrated that we weren’t getting the most out of ourselves. The younger lads coming in with a freshness, John was inspired by them and their genuineness. That was definitely reciprocated back to them as well, and that when John spoke, they listened and he led then on the pitch.
“He loves the way that they accept him. He’s involved in all the craic and he’s enjoying all the banter.”
He’s 35 years of age, the second oldest player on the pitch tomorrow after Patrick Horgan.
After Clare’s golden campaign in 2013, Conlon had a stunning range of hurling honours but has had to persevere through fallow periods since.
Injuries and defeats have piled up, but he has fought on.
“He just loves playing hurling, and he loves getting the best out of himself. Even when he was injured, a lot of guys would, maybe take the foot off the gas.
“He went back to college to Setanta for that year when he was out trying to learn about his body and learn about the most innovative to better himself and learn more about his injuries.
“He is a professional athlete in everything bar monetary terms, in terms of his diet, his training, his preparation, his mental side of things.
“And to be to be competitive at the age of, coming on 36. Most guys, they’re either finished or they’re playing junior B at that age. John is phenomenal. He is just a massive leader.”
