*Mark Rodgers. Photograph: Sam Barnes / Sportsfile.
COMPETITION for places in the Clare hurling team has created an uncomfortable but healthy environment within the panel according to one of the side’s leading marksmen.
Increased responsibility has been placed on the shoulders of Mark Rodgers this season but he’s more than strong enough to carry the load as he has demonstrated since making his inter-county senior debut in 2021.
Higher standards have been set by Clare this year, the Scariff attacker admitted. “The standards we’ve held ourselves to in training and games has been really good, that is one of the biggest things. An awful lot of the young lads have brought a huge freshness to the panel, they have been really good, a lot of them are pushing for places which is great, it makes it uncomfortable and that is very healthy”.
Sitting down with The Clare Echo, Mark outlined, “it’s been so far so good in 2026 but that is all it is, so far. We have another big test, we’ve been good in the league to date in terms of results, we’ve built decent momentum and we’ll be trying to hold onto to that”.
Clare make the short trip to TUS Gaelic Grounds this Sunday to face Dublin in the Allianz National Hurling League Division 1B decider. The game starts at 13:45 and is the curtain raiser to the meeting of Limerick and Cork in the Division 1A final at 16:00. “It is brilliant, we couldn’t ask for better preparation that way.” Mark said of getting to line out in an expected sell-out.
Rodgers was in Páirc na nGael on Monday looking ahead to the game and reflecting on Clare’s campaign to date. Across their six league outings so far, he has rotated between the full-forward and half-forward lines. He said he has no real preference for either spot on the field, “I love being out there. Every game presents different challenges, it is great that we have forwards who can mix between both, whatever six forwards we put out will be able to play in each of the six positions which is unique, it makes it difficult for a defending team. Any team you get out on the pitch is great. You do have to have some element of flexibility, it is good to be a specialist as well, if you can be it does help”.
There are more hurlers vying for jerseys as a result of the game time afforded to so many players in Clare’s league run who duly grabbed the opportunity afforded to them by management. “I think any year we have been winning the competition for places has been strong, it is good to see strength back, that is a positive sign, it remains to be seen whether it will lead to wins, the competition is good”.
Winning was not so common for Clare’s hurlers last season in a campaign where they were relegated from the league and relinquished their crown as All-Ireland champions by failing to get out of Munster. Clare are looking forward, not in the rear view mirror, Rodgers stressed. “There’s lots of different things you can point to, it is all in the past now, everything is geared towards Sunday and the following four games after that, we will be able to reflect and see where we are and hopefully be continuing you on towards the All-Ireland series. Since we got back together before the turn of the year (we parked 2025), we’ve been training really well and we’ve been doing pretty well in our games so then you always have a good point to reflect to, you’re building blocks and you keep trying to stack days together and we’ve been doing that to date”.
Dublin have been Clare’s toughest opponents so far this year with only two points separating them in the league opener and they clash again this weekend. “They are a top side, they were in an All-Ireland semi-final last year, they knocked out Limerick, they are really good in possession, they have some brilliant athletes and are very physical, those are all qualities of top sides, they have them, it is a brilliant opportunity and a great test for us. The added element is that it will be in front of a big crowd is a positive, that is what the Munster championship is going to be like”.
Life in Division 1B has given the chance to experiment but the question remains how big will the jump be from the second tier to the cut and thrust of the Munster SHC. “It is so hard to know (how big the jump will be), we’ve got to see all four Munster teams in the league who have been really good at stages, they all have had their own top performances during that league, it remains to be seen what condition we will come into championship in, we can think we will be really good but we have to prove it and that is what we want to do”.
Their campaign has also underlined the dedication of the Clare hurling supporters who have travelled to Armagh, Carlow and Kildare in their droves. “It is amazing, it is very real and very visible, we’re delighted with our support, we love performing for them”.
A two-time Fitzgibbon Cup winner with the University of Limerick, Mark left his imprint in UL where he graduated with a Masters in Business Analytics. He is now working as a pricing analyst with aircraft leasing company, Stratos based in Shannon. “There’s definitely a better routine and structure to your day, it is not set hours or 9-5 but having a routine is very helpful because college is very unstructured in that sense,” he said of balancing inter-county commitments with working life.
Rodgers and the Clare panel are not long off the plane having undertook a training camp in Portugal in the past fortnight. The warm-weather aspect may not have went to plan but the camp was the first time the county hurlers went abroad for training in a decade. “The time you get to spend together is the biggest thing, you don’t get the opportunity to spend three or four days working on ourselves, to get that time was something we hadn’t done, it was good in that sense but we got a lot out of it”. “Do they have to deal with the rain,” he quipped when asked if the training camp gave a taste of life as a professional athlete.
He continued, “You spend so much time together, that is the biggest thing. Most of us would be pretty similar because we share a common interest and then you spend so much time together that you get close to a lot of them, you go through a lot of experiences together, you go through the highs and lows which is what builds the close-knit group, we’ve had a lot of continuity in that group”.
Approaching the eve of championship is always an enjoyable time of year, the former Young Hurler of the Year noted. “There is an excitement, an anxiousness, all those feelings and emotions are around the place at the moment, everyone is making the final push to be the best version that they can be for championship and the best team we can be”.
He is not the only member of the Rodgers household in the championship zone with younger brother Paul making his debut for the U20 hurlers off the bench in their win over Waterford last week. “It was great for them to get the result below in The Bridge, hopefully they will back it up the next day against Limerick and that they have a long summer ahead as well as the minors”.
