Tony Kelly shrugs off the suggestion that, in defeat to Waterford on Saturday, the compacted schedule of this hurling championship caught up with Clare.
"That's maybe an easy enough excuse to make," says Kelly, the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for November.
In what was Clare's third consecutive weekend of action, Kelly was hobbled by an ankle injury seven minutes into the game and was unable to affect it as he had done with the previous matches against Laois and Wexford.
The 26-year-old underwent a scan on Monday and discovered he sustained ligament damage. He'll be wearing a protective boot for the next couple of weeks.
The 2013 Hurler of the Year, who hit 1-53 in four games this championship, seems a dead cert to pick up his second All-Star.
"As I reflect on it, it probably is the best hurling I've played for Clare, definitely," he says.
"A lot was made of the scores you'd be putting up. I know frees have to be put over the bar but it inflates it that bit more when you see a score of 1-15.
"It was the best form I've showed. You're trying to come back next year with the same form or try to improve it, try to tweak it some bit, try to come back.
"I can't sing enough praises to the lads we have up front in terms of work rate. Often, the easiest bit of the puzzle is to put it over the bar. The hardest bit is winning a puckout or winning a break and things like that.
"In lockdown, I was doing what most lads were doing, training hard. Being a teacher, during the lockdown, you were doing a lot of work from home. You were able to get up in the morning, go to the field two or three times a day. I'm only two minutes from the field. It was a help having the likes of Jack Browne, Niall Deasy around as well.
"It was all about trying to improve. Brian [Lohan] will give it to you straight as well. He'll you where you're doing well, doing badly, what you need to improve on. As a player, the onus is on you to seek out help as well. You might think that you're good in one area but you need an external pair of eyes to tell you what to improve on."
26 November 2020; Clare hurler Tony Kelly is pictured with the PwC GAA / GPA Player of the Month in Hurling for November award at Ballyea GAA Club in Ennis, Co. Clare. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Despite significant absentees - namely John Conlon, Colm Galvin and Peter Duggan - Clare had a decent campaign. Kelly expects Conlon and Galvin to return from injury in time for next season, which is just around the 2021 corner. Duggan is a different matter.
"Then you're hoping that Peter Duggan gets sick of Australia and comes home," says Kelly.
"The old lockdown restrictions aren't helping our case to bring him home here especially when they aren't locked down out in Australia, so you'd be hoping he'd be coming home in the New Year as well.
"You can’t hold it against anyone going travelling. Some lads want to experience it, other lads don’t. It’s a personal selection everyone has. Look at the life he’s living out there now with very few restrictions, it would make you jealous being in Ireland at the minute.
"The summer time for me is really hurling. When I'm finished in a few years I might squeeze in something but for the minute I’m solely focused on my job. I’ll see enough of the world by the time I’m finished.
"I’m trying to convince him at the minute that we’ll be out of lockdown soon enough. Hopefully if we plague him enough he might come home."
See Also: Tony Kelly Thinks Galway Will Win All-Ireland Hurling Title
