*Paul Rodgers. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CLARE’s leading marksman Paul Rodgers is hopeful of collecting a minor All-Ireland medal to match the senior equivalent claimed by his brother Mark last year.
Scariff supporters have just one more year to wait until they’ll see a powerful double act line out together at senior level when the Rodgers brothers form part of the same team for the very first time.
Automatically it will strengthen the championship credentials of the five-time Clare SHC winners who last lifted the Canon Hamilton in 1953 but that’s a story for another day.
It was at minor level when Mark Rodgers’ arrival on the inter-county scene was first flagged and his younger brother Paul is following suit and producing some sublime performances in the process.
Injury ruled him out of the first round win over Tipperary but in his six championship appearances Paul has notched a combined tally of 2-50, some ridiculously good scores among his contributions.
Reflecting on their run to the All-Ireland final, Paul said, “We’ve had a lot of ups and down through the Munster championship, it’s great to be moving on and to be looking forward to an All-Ireland final which you wouldn’t have seen at the start of the year so it’s great to be looking forward to one”.
Those ups and downs include the injuries encountered along the way, he explained. “We’ve lads in and we’ve had lads out so that is tough but it has to be next man up and everyone has a role, it is a thirty three man panel and everyone plays their part”. He added, “Everyone has really stepped up for us, nobody has let us down at all”.
Raising the intensity and standards in training has led to them recording three successive wins in the All-Ireland series, the sixteen year old stated. “We’ve really upped the intensity in training, in fairness the management have really helped us along the way, they’ve all the stats off and know where we’ve gone wrong and where we can improve on everything. The management have been class since they came in, Damien (O’Halloran) has been there a good while now so he knows exactly what he is at, the management aren’t far behind him now and they are doing a lot”.
Alongside Liam Murphy of O’Callaghans Mills, it has been the East Clare duo that have caused plenty of headaches for opposing sides in the minor championship. “You’re relying on the lads to give in the ball and the lads aren’t failing outside, they are doing their job to get the ball in and they’re very good”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Paul noted that lining out for the county minors last season when they reached an All-Ireland semi-final has been of help in progressing in 2025. “It’s great to have played last year and you would have learned a lot from last year that you can bring into this year and hopefully improve on”.
Visibly different in the two seasons is how physically stronger Paul has become and he’s not found wanting when it comes to determination and getting stuck into challenges. “We do a lot of S&C, we do a good bit with the club and we do it once a week with the minors,” he said when admitting it was a big focus to improve in this sector.
With Scariff Community College, he alongside Cormac Gunning and Jake Gibbons reached the TUS Thomais Choilm Cup Munster PPS U19B Final where they lost out to High School Clonmel. This factored with St Flannan’s reaching the Harty Cup final has helped Clare’s minors, he believed. There’s four lads from Scariff on it, Flannan’s have twelve lads but they’ve been playing all year so it’s very good to be able to come into a minor championship having been playing all year”.
Two fine sideline cuts have been converted by Paul in their wins over Galway and Cork at Semple Stadium. It’s an art which requires a lot of time to execute, “I’d nearly go to the pitch every day and every day I’m not training I’d go to the pitch, hit a few frees and a few sidelines and hope they go over on the big day. When it works it looks well and when it doesn’t it’s not so good”. His ability to knock over a sideline cut doesn’t mean he’s immune from receiving criticism if they miss the target, particularly with the club, “there’s a few lads in the club well able to hit them”.
His parents Trish and Ger are ever-present supporting the county and have been busy clocking up the miles to attend matches that Paul, Mark and Alva are involved in. “They’ve been very good, they’ve been at all the games, my Mam and Dad go to every game, they help me every morning or if I need anything”.
Feedback isn’t always commonly received by his brother Mark, winner of Young Hurler of the Year in 2023 and an All Star last season, “The odd time he’d give a bit of advice but not much lately”. He’s keen to pick up a medal that his brother didn’t manage to win, “it would be very good. Mark has his senior All-Ireland so it would be nice to get a minor”.
Both brothers have spoken of the benefits of playing handball in helping improve their game, it’s another sport which they’ve tasted All-Ireland success in. “I used to play a lot of handball, I think it has really helped me with my feet, my hand passing, my hand eye coordination”.
Reflecting on their encounter with Waterford at the beginning of May and what to expect from the Déise this Saturday, he said, “Waterford are very strong, they are very physical, they are very well balanced, they have a few class players so it will be no easy game. You blur out the hype and treat it as it is, another game, hopefully it will go our way. A lot of people wouldn’t have believed it at the start of the year that we’d get here so you just have to believe”.
