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
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What does he think could transform Clare from many people's closest challengers to Limerick to champions?
"We're looking to take little steps in the areas we went wrong last year, continue to improve and work on those little percentages, inch by inch, get to the goals we have set out for ourselves.
"A few games last year, our wide count was quite high. Definitely looking to rectify that, though we probably had a similar situation the year before. It’s important to really analyse where we are going wrong and take steps to improve on that. Maybe it’s a case of working harder to analyse a few more deficiencies and step by step keep improving because we're not at the pinnacle, where we want to be.
"Ultimately we probably are building towards the first round [of Munster, v Limerick] but there’s an awful lot of hurling between now and then. It’s important to build momentum and camaraderie entering championship because you want to be ready to go once the Munster championship rolls around. We have all seen that if you put a foot wrong there it could be over for you straight away."
A complication for the Banner will be the unclear return date for Kelly, who underwent ankle surgery before Christmas and might not make it back in time for that Limerick showdown on 21 April.
"He’s obviously one of the best players to ever play for Clare already and trying to fill that void is a challenge," Rodgers says. "You probably need several lads to step up because it’s probably hard for one person to replicate Tony’s output at the moment, he’s performing at such a high level.
"But it’s a good test of a team to see where you are and to challenge yourself now and we’ll definitely be looking to do that in the New Year."
Rodgers was in scintillating form for Scariff after the summer's inter-county disappointment, scoring 5-56 in the Clare senior championship as his club reached the semi-finals for the first time in 19 years.
January will be busy too. Rodgers is part of the Banner panel who begin their pre-season Munster Hurling League campaign against Limerick on Wednesday and will also line out in the Fitzgibbon Cup for UL from 17 January.
Rodgers, who is one of eight University of Limerick players going for a third title in a row, says that while he trains with the county panel "the majority of the time", Clare manager Brian Lohan and UL boss Brian Ryan liaise so that he can attend sessions with the college as well.
"It is busy but I'm very lucky to be able to play Fitzgibbon and play with my county. I’m privileged to do so. I won’t get the opportunity to hurl with UL forever, the same with Clare and I’m trying to take full advantage of it. I’m enjoying the process at the moment.
"The quality of the Fitzgibbon at the moment, there are stars on every team. Playing at a high level and testing yourself against all that talent, you’re obviously going to better for it come the summer.
"The new addition of the [Allianz Hurling League] week off for the Fitzgibbon, to play the semi-final and final, is nice in that it gives that recognition."
Ah yes, the league. That starts on 4 February, meaning Clare will face Cork or Waterford (11 February) either side of the mid-week Fitzgibbon quarter-finals.
The looming format change for 2025 means counties have less leeway to experiment - presuming they want to remain in the top tier - but Rodgers, despite Clare's indifferent league showings in the last two seasons, insists that he has always seen it as a vital stage of the year.
"Everyone tries to target games in the league that they want to win," he said. "Ultimately you're trying to get out of the group and win the league.
"Some teams are probably going through tougher training blocks and some have injuries or [players in] Fitzgibbon but I think every team is playing to win once they get out on the field. If you’re going out with a couple of key players It can be very hard to replicate the game plan you want in championship but every time we have been out we’ve tried to play our best, though sometimes we have come up short.
"The Munster championship is hugely intense and hugely physical. It is important to have bodies 100% for that but it is important to go step by step in the league to get your hurling to a level where you are ready for the championship because it’s very hard to just flick on the switch."
