Mark Rodgers confident Clare can buck losing trend in 2024

2023 was quite the year for Mark Rodgers.

In his third season as a Clare senior, the 22-year-old forward scored 4-27 in six championship games after taking over the free-taking duties from the injured Aidan McCarthy and a man he had idolised growing up, Tony Kelly.

He scored three points as the Banner recorded the first championship win over Limerick in almost four years and 1-02 as they lost a second nail-biting Munster final in a row to the Treaty.

Rodgers was named Young Hurler of the Year for his efforts but that was scant consolation for wounds that still sting six months on.

"There was silverware on the line that I would have much rather have been coming home with, in terms of Munster and All-Ireland finals. But it's nice for the family and the club," he tells RTÉ Sport.

Reflecting on the one-point loss in the Munster final, he observes: "It doesn't really matter in the dressing-room whether you’ve been involved in a classic or not if you lost. It’s always a tough place to be, especially when you’ve given everything.

"But playing against a great team like Limerick, you learn a lot about yourselves. Taking those learnings from those defeats is pivotal in further development in getting better as a team and as individuals. Limerick have raised the standard and everybody is rising with it.

"We would have loved to be there but we weren’t good enough to get out of the semi-final. We didn’t play well for long stretches that day but that was probably down to Kilkenny, they were excellent. Hopefully we can get back to that stage and rectify that."

Clare's Mark Rodgers has been named the PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year, which will soften the blow of his Scarriff Under-16s losing during the week