JOHN Conlon’s return from injury and subsequent move to centre back was one of the big positives in a 2021 campaign of near misses, writes Ivan Smyth.

However, when the Clonlara man suffered what he describes as a “weird sensation” in his knee after taking part in a tackling drill the Tuesday after his side’s come from behind win against Whitegate, another spell on the sideline loomed.

This led him to undergo keyhole surgery on his knee as he sat out the rest of his side’s campaign with Clonlara bowing out of the group stages before winning the Senior B Championship.

“It was hard looking on. It was frustrating to get injured because we were going well. We lost out on getting to the quarter finals which was annoying because we were close again. It was a weird sensation when I got the injury first. I knew it wasn’t the previous injury (ACL). All went well with the surgery. Brian (Lohan) and the management team have been minding me with my two knee surgeries but I’m feeling good.”

Conlon is not one to feel sorry for himself despite having to undergo a second knee surgery as he could only watch as Clonlara agonisingly slip out at the group stages after a final round draw with Kilmaley.

He insists that having gone through lengthy rehabilitation for his ACL injury built up greater mental strength to be able to deal with his latest blow. The 32-year-old also admits he may need to lighten his workload slightly when he returns to club duty later in the year.

“Having the ACL injury is one of the worst things you can get. I knew with this injury it wouldn’t be nine months of rehab and that I could build the knee back up again.

“When you go through something like the ACL injury you become mentally strong and understand more about your body.”

“I think I need to be cuter when I’m with the club. You have so many resources when you are with the county and sometimes if the load is too high we’d agree that I might pull out and give my body a chance. I was probably trying to do everything every night with the club so I’ll learn from that.”

The 2018 All-Star has returned to light training as he states that recovery from the surgery has gone to plan.

“When I got checked out the doctor cleared out the cartilage that was torn. I limped in and walked out that evening so then it was a matter of waiting for the swelling to go down. Then you try and strengthen it back up in the gym. I’ve been to the physios the last few months while I was up in Santry a while back to do some testing and everything went well.”

Despite Clare’s disappointing two point defeat to Cork in Round Two of the qualifiers last year, there was a general acceptance last year that the side had continued to move forward. Conlon believes the team gelled well in 2021 with new faces continuing to be integrated in pre season training.

He is hungry for success as he wants to experience playing in Croke Park come the business end of the Championship.

“I know we lost to Cork but the encouraging thing last year was that I felt a bond developing in the group. We had a nice few lads step on the panel last year.

“The likes of Mark Rodgers and Shane Meehan have got a bit stronger. They are more integrated in to the set up and we are still bringing through more lads who can hopefully help us push on.

“I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t think we were good enough to reach a Munster final or an All Ireland final. I think the lads showed passion for the jersey last year.”

“We built up a good rapport with supporters. You know what you get with Brian Lohan so he’s definitely brought a good few players on.”

“I still feel that I can add value to the team. Whether it’s just as a panel member or as a sub I’m pushing myself to my limit to try get back and playing again.

“We have the potential in the group to do well and we aren’t far away.”

His first game back after the ACL injury was his side’s league defeat to Antrim. Despite going reasonably well at centre-back and making his long awaited return to the fold, Conlon admits that result was bitterly disappointing.

“We said after that game that the performance just wasn’t good enough. We went up there to win. I know I’ve been up there a few times and its’ always a tough place to go. It’s a long journey up and then you are coming up against a great, ambitious team.

“They were always going to bring massive fight but we just didn’t bring that. I think the Dublin league game was big for the group as we were able to see where we stood. You could feel the team settling in and lads becoming more familiar with each other. You need that one game every year where you get a performance and feel the team coming together.”

Conlon is looking forward to donning the Clare jersey once more as he admits the league format can help the group be prepared for the hectic nature of the round robin series in the provincial Championships.

“You can play all the challenge and training games in the world but this is where you can see where you are as a team. We have a quick, skillful Cork team at the weekend so we will be trying to find our feet and hopefully we can do that quickly.”

“We have things to work on from the Limerick game. The goal is to be right for Championship. I feel the league structure is similar to the Championship so we want to get some momentum going early in the year.”