Shane O'Donnell reflects on a memorable campaign with Clare

By Cian O'Connell

GAA.ie sat down with 2024 GAA/GPA PwC Hurler of the Year, Shane O'Donnell.

Q: Congratulations Shane, it is a great achievement, and maybe a lovely book end for the year for yourself and Clare?

Shane O'Donnell: Yeah, obviously everybody always says it, that winning Liam MacCarthy is by far the most important. Still, to come to these events, especially when it is voted by your fellow players for this kind of an award. It is incredible. I'm very proud of it, it is a great day basically, that you get to enjoy.

Q: The satisfaction element, you play sport, and maybe you've more bad days than good days so it is important to enjoy this?

SOD: Yeah, like you said you do have more bad days. We've had a lot of them, we've had tough days in dressing rooms. When you win Liam MacCarthy, you've to absolutely savour it, we learned that from 2013. Maybe we didn't actually enjoy that as much, maybe we thought it would come more frequently, whatever it might be. This year, and I've talked to a lot of the lads, we've sat back some days, soaked it in a small bit. This is similar. It isn't in the same calibre, but it is still a fantastic day, it is something I'm proud of, and it is something I'll savour.

Q: The perseverance in your own personal journey. The concussions a couple of years ago examined you in many different ways. So, to overcome something is that something in the journey since?

SOD: It certainly is looking back, but at the time it wasn't a moment of being 'I can still win Player of the Year, I have to go back, I can still win an All-Ireland' it was purely I needed to go back for my own physical wellbeing and health. I needed to go back, to know I wasn't afraid of hurling or being on the pitch for the rest of my life. That was the context for the decision to go back. It wasn't any grander than that, it was a really narrow scope. I need to play hurling again or I will never be what I was before or I will always be marred by this event.

The scope was quite narrow for making that decision to go back. When I went back and Brian was in charge, and he gave me the time, which was a huge part of it. If he had forced me to make a decision early in the year, I would've just said no, I was too afraid at the time. He gave me that room to make that decision myself. The moment I went back, after the first week, I knew I made the right decision. I got back in training with the guys, I was back on the pitch, took a couple of hits, and I am what I was before again. It had been a long nine months not feeling like that. So, that was the impetus for making that decision.

Even after a couple of years the Clare group just started to grow. We just felt that we had this blend, this really nice crop of mature players that had been there for quite a while, but we had the younger players coming through, who were really stepping up to the mark. Suddenly, we were competing.

That first Munster final that we drew, when it went to extra-time in Limerick, we realised that we are at that level now. Limerick had been top of the game. Suddenly, we were able to compete in these big matches against them. The year didn't end exactly how we wanted, but we all took a step back after that year and realised there was a serious opportunity. In the three years we were at that level, this year culminating in victory, I think there was an awareness that we were building. There was no retirements really, there was no player taking a step back. We all had our foot on the gas for the last three years, it has been a joy to have been a part of.

Q: You referenced Brian Lohan, he maybe has a persona, but there seems a really caring side to him which you've illustrated there?

SOD: Absolutely, Brian has this persona, and the media even get a colder version of it because maybe he doesn't speak as fluently to the media as he does to us. He is an exceptional person, he really does see the person behind the player taking to the pitch. He understands playing at that level isn't just about your ability to hit a ball or ship a hit. There is so much going on before you step across the white line, he is very aware of that, he is very conscious of that.

He has always maintained that split view of the players where there is a lot going on outside of what they're doing on the pitch. That has served us extremely well. He has also let us foster this respect and trust in us, which lets us give input. He is the boss, he makes the decisions, but he at least takes input from the players, and filters that into the decisions he makes.

On the pitch he has given us licence to make changes, if we see things on the pitch, before they're able to react on the sidelines. That environment he has fostered in the last few years has been incredible to be a part of. It has been a joy. I even said it before this year or earlier this year, before we won anything, it has been a fantastic few years. It has been so enjoyable. It has been the best years I've played with Clare, that was even before we won. It is a great panel to be a part of, Brian should be the one that is commended for that.

Q: From the outside you seem to be able sport, life, and your career. Is it something your cognisant of and is that a fair assessment?

SOD: Yeah, I'm aware of it, I think it has served me better. I haven't gone out of my way to say am I spending exactly 50 per cent of my time doing this or that, but it has served me extremely well. Even when I was back in college, if things aren't going well on the pitch, I'm able to focus on my college work or my work to give a balance or perspective to how important what is going on the pitch is actually in the grand scheme of things. And vice versa too.

If work isn't amazing or if I'm frustrated with something in work, hurling in the evening is the perfect way to switch off your brain, and be thrust into training and everything that comes with that. You can't rock into training at the level inter-county is at the moment, you can't just walk in, and be thinking about work going through a drill. That isn't possible. So, it does allow you to switch off. It has served me extremely well, and I would always encourage people to not just focus on one or the other. It serves you better over the longer run to have both running in tandem.

Q: I don't want to open up 2013 again, but the few months after this All-Ireland, the glow of it, the Shane O'Donnell of now compared to 2013, how has that felt?

SOD: I said it after the game that this one was better, and I still maintain that this one is better for a lot of the reasons I just mentioned. We appreciate it more, all of those things. I'm more mature now to be able to control my time a small bit, to not be dragged into doing things because I feel obliged. I do things because I want to do them or I like the cause or whatever is going on.

It feels like I'm far more in control of my time which just means I've had more time to sit back. You mention the glow, and just being in the afterglow of winning an All-Ireland. I didn't experience that in 2013. When I look back at it, everything was manic, go, go, go, and getting pulled and dragged. This year, and work helps, I just can't do that, I'm working. That is a very reasonable reason not to do something. Just having that structure has allowed me to sit back, enjoy it, and just bask in what Clare have managed to achieve this year.

Q: It probably isn't something you do a lot Shane, but do you ever reflect on what you were like as a teenager, playing for the club, going to Flannan's, and think this has been a good journey?

SOD: Yeah, and probably more in the last year or two. After the concussion I probably had a little bit more of a reflection. Before that, I played hurling because I enjoy it, obviously, but that is part of what I've always done. After the concussion, there was a conscious decision to be made, whether I'd continue to do that or not. It forced me to reflect what it could have been if I didn't do that or if I didn't go hurling I could have done x,y, or z.

So, I've had those thoughts. I'm still able to stand over and say every year I've played it has been because I love playing and I've enjoyed it. That is still part of it. When you find out that you got this award, it definitely makes you reflect on when you were a teenager. I was never front of the pack, I was never the best player, just to think about how that journey has manifested, what it looks like. It is interesting to look back on that way.

Q: Is there a lesson in that to keep at it?

SOD: There probably is, but every player that has reached inter-county level, there is a lesson for others. Just being an inter-county hurler is a lesson in consistency a lot of the time. If you continue to train and put in your max effort, mine is similar to that, I don't think it is unique. I've been fortunate with having exceptional family, friends, and my girlfriend, and everybody that has supported me.

I've also been extremely fortunate with the team I've been able to be a part of. No player is able to achieve without the team around them. From minor I'd have the likes of Tony (Kelly), Colm Galvin, Davy Mc, all of them instantly in the group around me, propelling me forward. Success breeds success, I feel. There is a reason I'd stay hurling. If you're 18, you play minor, get annihilated in every game, and then suddenly there is an opportunity to go to America in your J1 year, suddenly that is ruling out your hurling and suddenly your hurling career is over. So, it is very important that I was very fortunate to be in a really strong group early days.

Once you get into Clare hurling or any hurling at inter-county, it is hard to justify not playing it because it is so enjoyable, you love it so much. You get so much from it. Each year it has been a conscious decision. It has been thoroughly enjoyable.

Q: Finally, Shane, the connection between the Clare team and supporters. How much does that matter?

SOD: I think Brian does bring that, Brian is a cult hero for great reason in Clare, and even beyond. There has been this journey, and it hasn't just been the players or management or the panel. The journey has definitely included the fans. It has been incredible to see. As a group you think we can always win these games. Maybe the supporters don't necessarily believe, but they are still there supporting you. Deep down, I'm not sure if they believe.

The first Munster final against Limerick, and Limerick were undefeated for years. Going in, we believed we could beat them, but I think the supporters don't, but they are still there to support us. Then, we have a moment where we could have won that game. Suddenly, the outpouring of emotion after that game, it really was incredible. Even though we lost, it was just pure pride from the supporters.

Every year it has been that level of support. Obviously, their belief in our ability has been growing as well as ours, maybe just lagging by a year or 18 months. It has been a brilliant journey, they've been an critical part of it all. It has been so enjoyable seeing them start to believe and also get to enjoy the days like we have this year.