SILVERWARE CAME TO Tony Kelly as if by magnetic force at a young age.
He was 19 when he pocketed All-Ireland medals at senior and U21 within a fortnight of each other. Barely a month later, he became the first player ever to win Young Hurler and Hurler of the Year awards in the same season.
Club, college, and individual honours continued to flow over the following decade but Clare had to wait an inconceivable 11 years for another victory in Croke Park and an All-Ireland final return.
Because of the Banner captain’s feast-then-famine inter-county career trajectory, this decider against Cork means even more than 2013.
“The appreciation of how hard it is is the biggest thing that I have learned from 2013 till now,” says Kelly.
“Back then, you’re just a young lad. You’re rolling with it, rolling into Croke Park going, ‘Jesus, this is great’.
“It’s not that you haven’t worked when you’re 19 or 20 but from then on, the work that has gone into that 10-11-year period has been substantial that you appreciate it that bit more.
“I’m not too caught up with legacy. It would be more worthwhile for the work. The work your family has done is worthwhile. Your partner at home hasn’t been able to travel for 12 years. They’ve put their lives . . . do you get me?
“It’s more worthwhile in terms of the club put this amount of work into yourself and Paul (Flanagan), it was worthwhile doing. I would say more worthwhile than legacy or validation or anything like that.”
It will only be worthwhile to Kelly, however, if they get the result come 5.30pm on Sunday.
“It probably only means something if you win it. That is the way I’d put it.
“I’ve never been on the losing side of an All-Ireland final in Croke Park. Now, I’ve only ever got there once.
“When you get to this stage, you don’t want to have that feeling (of defeat) for whatever it is, that four-or-five-month period.”
Kelly’s biggest lesson over the years has been patience. Not just in the broader sweep of those 11 years away from hurling’s showpiece event, but in keeping himself in a match when the sliotar isn’t coming his way.
After a quiet first half in the Kilkenny semi-final, he came good in the sprint to the finish line to rattle off three vital points.
“When you’re younger, you chase it more. As you get older, the biggest thing I’ve learned is patience. When you’re not in a game from the start, it’s just being patient and let it come to you.
“Not that you’re going to stand up completely but let it come to you. Don’t force it. Don’t run around like a headless chicken and end up on no ball.”
Kelly’s patience was tested off the field in the past year with a niggling ankle injury which required surgery last December. That ruled him out for the League campaign and prevented him from starting a match until the Munster final.
“I had a fracture in my foot that I thought was the main issue so I rehabbed that, crutches and boot for a couple of months. Got that healed, went back, and still causing me bother. So went back again and it was something else. The consultant went in and cleaned that up and it’s been good, touch wood, since.
“I was probably lucky that I got in before Christmas rather than having to wait into January which would have been a bit of a disaster.
“Once you get a date in your head and you’re able to work in with the physios, I actually found that grand. It was the four months from August to December which was probably the most frustrating part.”
As the first team to qualify for the decider, Kelly was in the privileged position of getting to sit back and watch the Rebels beat Limerick on the TV at home with teammate David Fitzgerald.
“We were probably watching the game within the game. You wouldn’t be paying attention to the score; you’d probably be paying attention to the build-up to the score.
“If lads were shooting or on the ball, you might have your eye on who was on the far side. Are they going with different set-ups? Are they going man-for-man or letting players off? You’re watching puck-outs.
“The best way to describe it is the game within the game.
“Everything was 50-50 down the middle, bar the efficiency bit. That’s the big thing. Decision-making on the ball and then trying to turn that into a score.
“The rate at which the puck-outs are coming – John Kiely referenced this at the weekend – if you hit a wide, it’s probably a score down the other end. That’s how quick the game has gone.
“So if you hit two or three wides, you’re probably two or three points down the other end because usually if it’s a wide, the referee lets it flow. There’s a lot of differences in the game and how it is played from 11 years ago to now.”
A lot of differences but Kelly will be hoping for the same result.