*Éire Óg’s Shane O’Donnell. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
GOING from winning a first Clare SHC title with Éire Óg to preparing for a Munster club final has been a “surreal” experience for Shane O’Donnell.
O’Donnell and Éire Óg bid to stop Ballygunner winning a fourth provincial crown in five years when they clash in FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles this Sunday.
A whirlwind run since winning the Canon Hamilton for the first time since 1990 has been described by Shane as “milestone after milestone” for the Ennis club. “It is surreal more than anything else, it is a mix between something completely different and the exact same as ever other game we’ve prepared for, it is class, the elation around the club is great to be a part of,” he explained.
Ordinarily when he is hurling be it for Clare or Éire Óg he lives at home in Ennis and for the rest of the year he resides in Dublin. With Éire Óg’s season stretching on, he now finds himself commuting from the capital to the county town. “I’m up and down, it is complicated, usually when I’m hurling I’m living in Clare but at the moment I am living in Dublin and travelling back, I came back on Friday night and I’m going back up on Saturday afternoon. Gerry and the management have been brilliant, they are giving me the small bit of flexibility of the odd session out here and there so I’m not travelling so much. After games I need more time in the gym than I do on the pitch, there is so much rehab I need to do so the couple of days rehab following a match serves me a lot better than travelling back to training, I think they understand that as well”.
News which will lift the spirits of Éire Óg and Clare hurling fans is Shane admitting that he finally feels to be at full of his powers in a year which saw him undergo a shoulder operation and battle a chunk of injuries.
Waiting six weeks from their county final win over Clooney/Quin to facing Loughmore-Castleiney in the Munster semi-final was far too long of a gap, he felt.
“It allows you to completely take the week and enjoy the celebrations but it is too long, even though I did make good use of it and got a solid three weeks in the gym doing rehab and it has really moved the needle, I feel like I’m finally coming out of my injuries now whereas all year I’ve been battling so many injuries on different fronts so that feels good but at the same time it is too long, six weeks is a ridiculous amount of time to have to wait for a game especially when it is waiting through the entirety of October but that is the reality of the situation”.
Such a period between games was almost common place when his brother Marc was a constant on the Éire Óg first fifteen when the first round of championship was held in May and the next not taking place until Clare exited the All-Ireland series. “It is crazy, I remember one of the years when they decided to do the April club-month and they would play a game then, it made no sense and screwed up everyone’s calendar. With Clare there was a different format and loads of weeks between championship games, it is not conducive to best preparation for a game, you just want a maximum of two weeks really, maybe four depending on how it hard it has been between previous games, it is not ideal but unfortunately we don’t get to decide the fixtures”.
Brian Lohan’s tenure has given Shane more flexibility on when he ordinarily returns to the Clare panel with him opting out of the National Hurling League in recent seasons. Éire Óg’s run into the winter may defer when he rejoins the county squad. “I’m probably pushing the envelope as much as possible, I’m not sure how much further I can push that. It will be a discussion I have to have with Brian (Lohan), like the time after the county final and having the few weeks to recover and reset a small bit, I’ll need a decent portion of time to do that properly, he has always been really mature about that and has been excellent, I’ll have a discussion with him, he’ll tell me his side and I’ll tell him my side, we’ll talk to the S&C coaches and the physios and come up with a plan. There will still have to be a decent portion of time to get things right, it is all with a view to ensure I can contribute the most later in the year and we’re all on the same page on that front, we can all see common ground even if we sometimes see different ways of getting there, we’ll figure it out together but there will be some time off to try get things right”.
According to the 2024 Hurler of the Year, the growth in his Éire Óg teammates has been notable over the past three months. “I think every team that gets out of the county for the first time in a long time, they throw back the shoulders and go out and express themselves, the young lads in particular are really taking that on, you could see that with James O’Dwyer and Tom Kavanagh when they came on, they were excellent, James made his debut last year and he is now coming on and not looking at all out of place in a Munster semi-final against the Tipperary champions. That is an experience across the panel but it is more acute for the young lads who feel now is a chance for me to show what they can do”.
This is also encapsulated with the manner in which Robert Loftus had no fear in going in to mark current Hurler of the Year for the end of normal and extra time in the semi-final. “It bodes very well not just for Éire Óg but Clare in general, the years of a Tipp team being something to be feared are gone, Clare is now at the table where we are at the same level as them across the board if not better in many respects and that filters down to club games too, there was no fear at all and there is no reason to be afraid. Rob was excellent and is well able to handle himself any day he goes out, that doesn’t have to change because of a specific person he is marking”.
Shane said their Munster semi-final win was indicative of their year where they have took charge in the second half. “All year we’ve been a second half team, we’ve been in tough positions at half time repeatedly and we always come out with the goods, that has been a great sign, no more than Kilmaley this year, it was the toughest game we had because they were flying it, the start of the second half in difficult conditions we showed pure mettle and were able to dig it out. Each game has been the same story but with a slightly different cut and thrust to it, we start to go from the second half, if we’re in a situation against Ballygunner with twenty minutes to go and we’re right beside them, I’d be very confident we can take that game”.
