*Éire Óg duo, David Reidy and Shane O’Donnell lead the Clare convoy as the team bus arrives at The Fair Green. Photograph: Tom Micks
SHANE O’Donnell’s status as one of the most valuable hurlers to wear the Clare colours was known long before he collected a second All-Ireland medal.
O’Donnell is effectively the Hurler of the Year elect, we just have to wait until the winter time for this to be officially confirmed.
Eleven years ago he was the teenage boy wonder who scored 3-3 in the All-Ireland final replay to help Clare overcome Cork following a replay. For the 2024 championship, he was Clare’s most consistent player as the county went on to win the All-Ireland SHC for the fifth time, again defeating Cork in the decider.
For the eleven year interval, Shane was certainly kept busy, he completed a degree in genetics in UCC and in 2018 obtained a Fulbright Scholarship. His ability off the field and commitment to his academics coupled with his demeanour makes him the perfect sporting role model and that is without mentioning what he can do on the field.
Speaking following Clare’s dramatic one point extra time win over Cork, he commented, “It’s very hard to describe the feeling, it’s an outpouring of emotion that’s ten years in the making, ten years of hardship made worthwhile. I am glad I didn’t make the decision to retire”.
Now the holder of two All-Ireland SHC medals, the Ballybeg man also has three All-Ireland U21 medals and as many Munster championships at the grade. A constant companion for all of this successes has been Tony Kelly. “When Tony gets going there is nobody like him, it’s just a matter of feeding him with the ball as much possible and getting out of his way. He does things that you think are not possible, an exceptional player,” Shane said of the Ballyea man.
During training on Tuesday evening in advance of the final, Shane picked up a hamstring injury, an item of news which managed to remain within the camp. “I had a bit of an injury scare during the week, I thought my race was run midweek and that I wasn’t going to be playing at all, to be honest being involved in the build-up and getting to walk behind the parade I was just delighted, every minute I was out on the pitch I was so happy to be there, I contributed what I could and then handed over to the rest of the lads, it was an incredible occasion like every All-Ireland final is, it is a privilege to play the sport and be involved in these events, to play hurling it is such a beautiful game, it is an incredible occasion to be part of,” he revealed.
Discussing his hamstring injury on Newstalk’s Off The Ball, he said, “I pulled my hamstring in training on Tuesday, I got a scan on Wednesday which said it was 1A which is the mildest strain you can have but we’re still talking five days to recover so it was fifty fifty if I could play and even if I could play that I’d be kind of aware of it so it all worked out brilliant, I didn’t hold back but earlier in the week I went from the total highs and the dream of building up to an All-Ireland final to having twenty four hours post-training where I was thinking my hamstring was done”.
Facing the prospect of missing out on the All-Ireland made preparations very difficult, he admitted. “Your dream turns to a genuine nightmare and everyone wishing you the best of luck is suddenly reminding you that you’re not going to be playing, it was so difficult and challenging, not to at all take away from whoever would have come in for me because they would have done a fantastic job, I wasn’t at all concerned about that, it was just trying to get over the emotion of it. Thankfully I got the MRI which was something I could work with, our physios Shane Malone and Catherine Fahy were incredible, they put in an unbelievable shift on me alone not to mind all the other guys they were tending to, they met up outside hours and Saturday morning, they did everything possible to get me to the place that I could take to the pitch and all bets are off then”.
From a potential nightmare to the stuff of dreams, Shane was again pride of place as the Clare bus arrived into the Fair Green to 36,000 plus adorning Banner supporters. Speaking at the homecoming, the thirty year old outlined, “I don’t think I knew if this day was going to come back but I can honestly say it is infinitely better than it was eleven years ago, to come out here in the Fair Green in the middle of Ennis and see 35,000 or 40,000 people here it is fair to say that it is the pride of my life and a lot of the lads behind me to get to enjoy these days, to bring Liam MacCarthy back and celebrate with the people of Clare, I can’t wait to celebrate the next couple of days”.
His involvement was restricted after picking up a shoulder injury in the second half and with seventy nine minutes on the clock, the Éire Óg hurler was replaced by Shane Meehan. Watching extra time from the Hogan Stand, he urged players to pass the sliotar to Tony Kelly but he remained confident that the strength of the squad would see them claim the ultimate honours. “A lot of it is the confidence and the players we have, every time we’ve had the last ten or fifteen minutes in a game to go, we bring on some of the lads they have always performed every single time. So for the last ten or fifteen minutes when I knew I was done and a lot of the lads had their race run I was infinitely confident that the lads coming on would be able to do the job”.
