Shane O'Donnell soaking up the time he has left with Clare hurlers
Clare hurler Shane O'Donnell during the Cróga Nutrition product launch at Croke Park in Dublin. This launch event unveiled a groundbreaking new sports nutrition brand, specially formulated for Gaelic games, that has been developed as a joint venture between the GAA, GPA and Nuvion Nutrition. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Every time he has set in a dressing-room with his Clare hurling team-mates this year, Shane O’Donnell does his best to soak it all in.
His mind is made up that this will be his last hurling championship, so he wants to savour every moment of it that’s left.
“Yeah, this year's been kind of unique in that way,” said O’Donnell in Croke Park yesterday at the launch of Cróga, a new Irish sports nutrition brand designed for Gaelic games and developed in partnership with the GAA and GPA.
“You're still ultimately there to do a job and you're preparing for that, but you’re trying to spend a couple of minutes in the preparation or the build-up or in the dressing room or whatever it is, trying to soak it in a small bit more and kind of enjoy it.
“It hasn't changed anything really, to be honest. But there is trying to take in the moment a small bit more because it passes you by straight away.
"That prep time just disappears and suddenly the ball's been thrown in. So it's trying to be a little bit more conscious of the stuff that's happening and kind of enjoying bits and pieces throughout the preparation rather than just looking forward to the game being thrown in.”
O’Donnell toyed with the idea of calling time on his inter-county career on more than one occasion in recent years before eventually committing to the cause again, so why is he so adamant now that he’ll only play once or twice more for Clare depending on how Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick goes?
“It’s probably more a stage of my life where the opportunity-cost of playing is growing each year, so it feels like I’m having to trade off more each year and it’s getting harder to rationalise the decisions I’m making around not living abroad, or feeling like I’m holding back my career, or feeling like I’m not able to do the things that normal people at this stage of their life do,” he says.
“So, it is just an opportunity-cost thing more than anything else. Also, going through the year this year, I did have a bad shoulder injury last year and this year it’s been tricky just trying to stay on the pitch.
“So maybe that’s a sign as well. But the decision was kind of already made earlier in this year that this was going to be the last one - and then the body playing up makes you feel like maybe that's the right decision.”
Shane O'Donnell of Clare in action against Conor McHugh of Dublin during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Clare and Dublin at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile.
Former Limerick hurler, Seamus Flanagan, suggested this year’s championship could also be a ‘last dance’ for other Clare players like Tony Kelly, Peter Duggan, Conor Cleary, and David McInerney, but O’Donnell isn’t so sure.
“For the other lads, I don't know," he says. "I think initially when we'd been talking over the last couple of years, I thought that it would be a group of us maybe walking.
“We haven't had the conversation, but I don't get the sense that that's how it's going to go at the moment. I think me, maybe one or two others, maybe not, at the end of this year. And then it'll be a kind of maybe more graduated with players leaving over the next few years rather than a kind of big bang of lads walking out.”
Up and coming young hurlers like Sean Rynne, Niall O’Farrell, and Diarmuid Stritch have made a big impact this year and coming behind them is a talented generation that backed up winning the 2023 Minor All-Ireland with this year’s U20 All-Ireland.
That’s why O’Donnell is confident that even when the ‘Golden Generation’ of players who won All-Irelands in 2013 and 2024 do eventually retire the Banner County will still be very competitive.
“Yeah, 100%,” he says. “I actually wouldn't be at all concerned. Like, when I thought a couple years ago that we were going to be a batch of us kind of maybe moving on at the same time, I was maybe thinking that it might be tough for a couple of years, but now I'd actually not feel that at all.
“I think the u20s have been brilliant and you already have Diarmuid Stritch and Sean Rynne and Niall O'Farrell and those lads basically striding into games with no fear whatsoever. So yeah, I think the future is really bright for Clare.
"I'm actually really excited to be putting on my Clare jersey in a few years and going and watching these lads play and I fully expect them to be going out and winning games and competing at the top as well.
“So I'm looking forward to that and I think most Clare fans can kind of see that that's on the horizon. You never know how it's going to actually turn out like.
“The difference comes by the cohesion of the group or a couple of players that pull together a cluster of talent, but the talent is definitely there.”
The Clare team celebrate with the James Nowlan cup after the Fulfil GAA Hurling All-Ireland U20 Championship final match between Clare and Galway at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.
The future might look bright, but what about the present? At times this year Clare have looked electric but at others they have looked very vulnerable so it’s hard to gauge exactly what to expect from them in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.
“It's been a funny Championship,” admits O’Donnell. “It's been kind of like a rock, paper, scissors set up, in that we either get our set up right and it's quite straightforward and we can apply the game we want.
“Or we get it set up wrong, and that's not pointing (fingers), that's from all of us, either the application of it or how we've kind of approached it, it's a team effort from all sides.
“But if you don't get the tactics and the application of those tactics right, you're not going to be near the pitch of the game.
“There's a certain amount of aggression, absolutely, but unless you're close enough to a man, there's no point in being aggressive because you can't even get a hit in or anything.
“A certain amount you have to get right in your preparation from an application or tactics perspective to even be able to give yourself a chance to be tough and to be able to put yourself out there.
“I think we'd have been disappointed with performances earlier in the year and also been very happy with some of the performances. So it has been kind of a little bit up and down but I think we've also learned a huge amount from the games that don't go well so it’s a great opportunity for us to move forward and to be better the next day.
“When we performed poorly against Limerick earlier in the year, if you'd told us we'd get another chance, we'd have taken your hand off. So just delighted to have that second chance and to be able to go out this Sunday and just be able to apply ourselves better.”
They were out-worked and out-fought by Limerick when the teams met in in Round 3 of the Munster SHC on May 3, falling to a chastening 15-point defeat.
O’Donnell knows that if want to put themselves in a position to out-hurl Limerick on Sunday they must first meet them head on in the physical stakes.
“Every team has to be at it against them,” he says. "They're a well oiled machine, they're huge favourites for a reason. They obviously have a certain set up and their preparation is kind of oriented around that and it works very well for them.
“It is a matter of being able to meet that so that you can apply the aggression. That's what has worked well for us before, and making the game hard for everyone. That's our top priority and that's what we'll be looking to go after.”
