*Rory Hayes. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
MOMENTUM is behind the Clare senior hurlers as they prepare to enter the championship arena with Rory Hayes among those pushing strongly for a place in the first fifteen.
An All Star nominee following back to back standout seasons in 2020 and 2021, Rory remained an ever-present member of the Clare defence during their runs to the All-Ireland semi-finals in 2022 and 2023 when Killkenny prevailed by margins of twelve and three points respectively.
Conor Leen’s breakthrough debut season in 2024 came at the expense of the tigerish Wolfe Tones defender but he has remained resolute and determined in his efforts to win back a starting jersey. Based on his league form, Rory is certainly in the reckoning for a place at corner back and rightly so.
Training will determine what players are rewarded with starting berths, he explained. “There’s a lot of players fighting for positions, whoever is performing inside in training sessions will be on the field, we’re seeing that with the likes of Niall O’Farrell who was on today and played an exceptional game at centre back, he is like a man that has been with us for the last five or six years so whoever is performing will be playing”.
Panel depth was proven during Clare’s stint in Division 1B, the twenty nine year old explained. “With the league it was disappointing to be down in Division 1B but there’s good teams in it, we had Dublin, Wexford, really good outfits, we used 37 players during the league, we brought in some really good talented young players and older players, they’ve all shown in the league campaign that they are up to it, there is a lot of people fighting for positions this year so it is a really competitive environment, it is a great place to be”.
Facing off with Dublin in the league final was the test Clare needed before beginning the Munster championship, the Shannon man outlined. “In terms of preparation for championship, it was the perfect game”. He added, “Dublin are a really good outfit, Waterford are an exceptional outfit, they have their Ballygunner lads back, they have had them back for the last couple of weeks and we know how good they are and what they bring to the Waterford team, we lost to them in the championship last year, they have been our focus since the league final. We will take it game by game as we always do but the league final was the perfect preparation for it”.
When it came to the 2025 championship, Rory started one game which turned out to be Clare’s only win, a 3-20 0-24 victory over Limerick while he was introduced for the final five minutes against Waterford and after twenty minutes versus Tipperary.
Hayes felt luck didn’t fall Clare’s way last year, “Last year I think we were just unlucky, we lost below in Waterford and we were disappointed with that but Waterford is a really tough place to go. If we got through Munster and into the All-Ireland series I think we would have just been coming good, just the timing was off but we were a bit unlucky, a small bit to do with having injuries at the wrong time of the season. Last year we were unlucky, we have momentum now, we’ll pull that into championship”.
