“He’s definitely one of the best, if not the best hurler I’ve played with”

After a long winter, Tony Kelly is looking ahead to a boundless summer.

He’s done the time, 17 weeks into an ankle rehabilitation programme and now, for the Ballyea man, it feels like things are coming around again.

He injured that ankle during the 2020 championship – a championship that wouldn’t have been the same without him – and though you wouldn’t know it, he’s been struggling ever since.

The neck cranes to that quarter final against Waterford when, with the hopes of a county in his hands and legs, Kelly went down in the warm up and half of Clare went with him. He played the game, scoring a customary 0-8 but wasn’t at his best. A few more twists and turns followed, bringing him up to October ’21 when, after swinging a county quarter final for his club, Kelly had to make the difficult decision to go under the knife.

He missed Ballyea’s county final win and Munster semi-final loss to Ballygunner and though that wasn’t ideal, watching on from the line, sometimes a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. His ankle was in bits.

“It’s tough on the sideline watching on,” Kelly says at the launch of the GAA’s official protein bar, In the Zone.

“You obviously want to be playing and doing your bit. But whether you’re playing or not, a county final with your club is a massive occasion.

Class.

Tony Kelly's ankle is in a bad way but he couldn't contain his emotions at the final whistle. That's how much club GAA means 👏pic.twitter.com/fIEmrIaQ6x

— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) November 14, 2021

“We were lucky enough to have a good bunch of players in the club at the minute and we’re trying make hay now while the sun shines and gather as many medals as we can because we know it’s probably not going to last forever. It was tough, but it would have been a lot tougher if we had come out on the wrong side of the result.”

“I had kind of gotten to the stage where I couldn’t train by then. I was playing bits of matches here and there and I just didn’t want to do much more damage so I decided to get the surgery done and clean it up.”

But the rehab is going, the ankle is fine and the man is running – he can’t wait to get back hurling and says that, all going well, he’ll have a part to play in this National League yet.

“I’m back running and I’ve had no real setbacks with it. So, in terms of severity, It feels fine, it feels strong. I’m actually hoping that, once I get back, I might actually have a bit more flexibility with it. So, yeah, they’ve told me that once the rehab goes to plan you should be back to full strength.”

That’ll be a sight to see.

2 and a half minutes of Tony Kelly's 2020 escapades.

DRINK IT IN 🤟pic.twitter.com/5WYshGArvW

— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 17, 2021

As for Clare hurling in general, while disappointed with their winless start to the League, Kelly is buoyed by Tulla’s Harty Cup win as well as the sight of Mark Rodgers and Shane Meehan making shapes with the seniors.

“Tulla’s Harty win was huge. Especially coming from where they’ve come from, it was absolutely massive. You’d like to think that underage hurling is strong. Flannan’s won the 16.5 Munster A competition as well, Tulla won the Harty, Flannan’s won the Harty a couple of years ago, the under-15 in the schools is on this year so you’d be hoping that Flannan’s might have a say in it as well so there is talent coming underage.

“There is a lot of work being put into them and the likes of Tulla, savage work being done with them in terms of their management with Tomás Kelly, Terence Fahy and Aidan Harte so it only bodes well for the future if they can harness that talent when they come into Clare 17s or Clare 20s squads that we have a platform to allow them lads to get onto senior teams and senior panels in the future so from that viewpoint it’s huge to have our underage lads winning and competing at the highest level.”

The last word goes to Colm Galvin, a player Kelly played alongside since they were chaps and a player who, from under-16 right up to senior, was one of the best he got to hurl with.

“He was probably one of the biggest characters we had in terms of being really easy to get along with, always good craic, just one of those good lads you’d have in the dressing-room that when he’s gone he’s sorely missed.

“Not only for his hurling, but also the character he is in the dressing-room. He’s definitely one of the best hurlers, if not the best hurler, I’ve played with all the way up along. Just an exceptional hurler.

“His biggest attribute was probably his actual hurling brain. He obviously had all the skills and all the hurling as well but the reading of it, where to be, the right pass to play, his knowledge of the actual game. That is probably his biggest loss in terms of younger lads coming into the panel, being able to give that knowledge to younger lads.

“When he was on the field, he was the type of lad you could play wing-back, centre-back, midfield. When he first started with the Clare minors they played him at full-forward and he’s played absolutely everywhere. He’s just one of those lads, his brain is his biggest attribute.

“The only positive you could say is that at least he can play club hurling. If you’re looking at the likes of Paudie Maher, from his statement it looks like he’s done from inter-county and club which is such a shame for a fabulous hurler.

“That’s the only bit of solitude that Colm can play, that he can go back and play his bit of club hurling because he’s still quite young. He’s only 28, 29 this year I think. Massive loss to our dressing room both from a personal standpoint and a team standpoint but, yeah, he’s had a very good career.”

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10