PAT DONNELLAN WAS enthused like everyone else in Clare hurling circles at the start of 2016.
After a couple of lean seasons since their epic 2013 narrative, they were seeking to get back on track. Donal Óg Cusack was a megawatt name added to their management ticket, the return of Paul Kinnerk a boost to their coaching talent.
With the pre-season slog behind them, Clare turned into January and back to the business of hurling matches.
Before Na Piarsaigh became All-Ireland club champions last Thursday, they were pounding the challenge game circuit in January and faced Clare one Saturday. Donnellan lined out for Clare but a routine game would have a seismic impact on his year.
“I was just running out to jump up for a ball, innocuous enough, nothing too dramatic about it,” recalls Donnellan.
“I came down just on my left leg and it just turned as I was coming down. I hit the ground straight away.
“The pain was fairly bad at the start. You kind of know the difference between a knock and something going wrong.”
Donnellan suspected a torn cruciate but still held a flicker of hope that his season was not in ruins. He got an MRI scan and went to see the surgeon Tadhg O’Sullivan at Whitfield Clinic in Waterford to discover his fate.
“The only hope when I met Tadhg was that there might be an option maybe not to have surgery and that I could somehow have got out of it by doing rehab and building it up.
“He knew straight away that it was torn and the surgery was the only option.”
The road to recovery was sketched out for the O’Callaghan Mills man as he tried to process the fact that a line was being drawn through his season.
“It was terrible to be honest, it was devastating. When the pain isn’t too bad, you’re nearly convincing yourself that the injury isn’t too bad.
“We’d done a couple of very good months training, I was really enjoying it. But there was a little bit of solace, when Tadhg told me it was gone, you reset your mind, at least you know you’ve to get the operation.
“You focus on the rehab and you focus on the date you’ll be back. It was terrible at the time but Tadhg was good, he’s a hurling man.”
Donnellan is no injury-plagued hurler, the treatment table is not a place he is accustomed to. Facing into a long stint on the sidelines was new and confusing and uncertain.
“I don’t know what it is but I’ve been fierce lucky during my career. This is new territory for me.
“Just after the injury, you’re missing training and you can’t get out of the house. I missed the first league game (against Offaly), I wasn’t able to go to it.
“It was weird. It was the first game since I started playing with Clare back in 2006 that I hadn’t been at.”
In September 2013, Donnellan became only the third Clare man to captain the county to Liam MacCarthy Cup glory. That exhilarating high seemed a distant memory after the shattering low of this injury.
“The highs of the All-Ireland seem a long way away when you’re trying to get off the couch in crutches. It brings you back down to earth fairly quickly.
“You probably don’t realise how much you love it until you’re watching on. Looking on at it and not being in it.
“You become a little institutionalised with it and you probably don’t realise how much you are invested in it until you’re not able to do it.
“It’s fierce tough to be honest. The first week or so, I’d say I’d everything watched on TV. You get sick of that fairly quickly.”
There was sanctuary to be found in those close to him.
“I’ve had a bit more time to spend with my wife and my family and see my friends that bit more.
“It’s probably important that you get back into reality too and don’t get too bogged down with the injury.”
And any potential worries about work were soon eased.
“I’m lucky enough my employers are very flexible, I’ve been able to work from home. Aerotek Aviation based in Shannon.
“Like everyone else in the GAA, hurling doesn’t pay the bills. If I was out of work for a couple of weeks, I probably wouldn’t be able to sustain that.
“Luckily enough I have a job where I can work from home but if I was self employed or I had to travel around the country for my job, you’d be in a lot of trouble.
“People need to be aware that hurling and GAA is great but the main thing is that you look after your health and that you have a means to earn a living.”
The injury also offered a reminder of what a tightly-knit bunch a inter-county squad is. His Clare hurling teammates rallied around him.
Podge Collins made his comeback against Kerry last Sunday after travelling the cruciate road and he’s been a sounding board for Donnellan.
Davy Fitzgerald was quick to point out that Donnellan’s status in the squad was not changed.
“I’ll still be involved. Davy and the lads have been great.
“The first thing after you get the injury, they’re on the phone straight away to make sure you’re not getting isolated. I go to training every night and I go to all the games.
“I’ll be doing the rehab with the physios as much as any player that’s injured. Mine is more long term obviously.
“It’s great for me in a selfish way that you still have something to be a part of.”
He’s not thinking of any sensational comeback before the season is out. Looking around the country Donnellan sees other hurlers in a similar scenario like Ger Aylward in Kilkenny, Colm Spillane in Cork and Sean Finn in Limerick.
His focus is on gradually reaching every milestone on the road to recovery and cheering on his Clare teammates.
2016 has already seen them tick the Munster senior league box and they have a tilt at Division 1B promotion today in a crunch showdown against Limerick in what promises to be a crackling Ennis atmosphere.
“It’s easier to be honest (seeing Clare doing well). It’s not that I don’t think Clare will be able get on without me but you do feel like you’ve let someone down.
“You always want to see Clare doing well, it gives the county a great lift.
“I know how much work the lads on the panel are putting in and I know how much work the management are putting in.
“Everyone is geared towards making sure 2016 is a good year for Clare.”
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