AT THE START of the 2022 league, Peter Duggan was still trying to work his way back up to the pace of inter-county hurling after some time out.
The 2018 All-Star forward had been away for two years in Australia and was struggling to open up his lungs in a Clare jersey on his return. He was back in time for the Clare hurling championship with his club Clooney-Quin, but by the turn of the new year, there were still some concerns about his form. His rustiness was compounded by an ankle injury which required a procedure.
Meanwhile, Shane O’Donnell was absent from the team entirely. He suffered a concussion in June of last year which ruled him out of the rest of Clare’s All-Ireland championship campaign. He returned to the pitch 10 weeks later for the Clare SHC but subsequently suffered a setback after taking another blow to the head which forced him off the field.
He abstained from the remainder of the club championship as some of the symptoms returned, and had even resigned himself to the belief that his hurling career was over. Another stretch of time without seeing O’Donnell and Duggan in a Clare jersey was on the cards.
“At the start, I suppose Shane O’Donnell was undecided and would have taken no part in the league [O'Donnell returned to the Clare squad in March],” Tommy Guilfoyle of Clare FM explains to The42.
“That was probably a concern for Clare supporters whereas Peter Duggan came back from missing two years out and probably struggled early on. He had an ankle procedure and it took him a while to get going.
“I think he maybe made an appearance or two towards the end of the league. But it was still up in the air where they were.”
In the case of Duggan, Guilfoyle says that the star forward had long expressed a desire to travel to Australia. He eventually made the move Down Under in the winter of 2019, saying at the time time that he wanted to gain some experience there before helping to establish a landscape business at home in Ireland.
It may have taken some time for him hit his stride on his return, but Clare are certainly profiting from his presence now. Brian Lohan’s side have proven themselves to be one of the contenders for the All-Ireland, after producing a string of impressive performances in Munster before being narrowly squeezed out by Limerick.
Duggan’s imperious form, which includes six frees in their All-Ireland quarter-final win over Wexford, has been instrumental to their progress.
“The doubt when you leave for two years,” says Guilfoyle, “is whether or not you can return to your former self. Peter has worked very hard to get his form back.
“The two years out did have an effect on him fitness-wise and all that. But, we in Clare, are very grateful that he did come back and make himself available.
“We’re probably a bit one-dimensional by playing him on the edge of the square or up front. He was a key player against Wexford. Clare had the luxury to turn to him when Tony Kelly’s free-taking was off. It’s a huge bonus to have two free-takers in your team.”
The scale of O’Donnell’s concussion scare only came to light in recent weeks. After receiving a Player of the Month award, O’Donnell decided to open up on that troubling chapter of his life to the media, and discuss the stark impact that the injury had on his life in the months that followed the event.
He revealed how his brain “was not functioning” for about seven weeks, while he was also suffering from a feeling of pressure in his head.
“Shane is a private person,” according to Guilfoyle, “but I would know his father and it was touch and go. It’s an injury in the GAA that’s maybe not that well known, and the consequences of it. And in the GAA, if you haven’t the plaster on your hand, you should be able to play. That’s an attitude that is changing now, particularly towards concussion.
“Shane is a highly intelligent person and would always want to do the right thing. So, I’d say it was a worry and when he didn’t feature in the league, people in Clare probably thought it was over for him. To come back in the form he’s in has surpassed people’s expectations.”
On Saturday evening, Clare will seek to book a place in their first All-Ireland final since their 2013 heroics. A Kilkenny side, that may not possess the power of their predecessors but who are also Leinster three-in-a-row champions, stands in their way.
Guilfoyle expects that Brian Cody’s side will try to stifle the Banner from the throw-in, and negate all of Clare’s key scoring outlets before they have an opportunity to get going. Nullifying Hurler of the Year contender Tony Kelly is certainly part of that mission, while the deadly duo of Duggan and O’Donnell will also be targets for the Cats.
“We in Clare would want all our best players to be available and to get the two of them back has been a big bonus.
“The first 15 or 20 minutes [against Kilkenny] will be somewhere akin to the Munster final. It’s hard to envisage it being as intense as that game but that’s what I think Kilkenny are going to bring. The plus for Clare is that they have been finishing games well this year.
“I think Clare probably have an edge with the fitness. They seem to be finishing well while Kilkenny have probably mixed the good with the average this year.
“And yet, their three-in-a-row Leinster champions and Kilkenny are Kilkenny. And Kilkenny in Croke Park is something else. It’s an intriguing game, but one where I hope Clare will have enough to break down Kilkenny and maybe win by three or four points in the end.”
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