Ballyhale Shamrocks and Kilkenny hurler Adrian Mullen in attendance at the launch of this year’s AIB GAA Club Championships and AIB Camogie Club Championships, that will see AIB celebrating #TheToughest players of all: those who don’t quit, who keep going and persevere no matter what. These characteristics define the players who come back year after year and show up for their club when it matters most.
By John Harrington
Kilkenny and Ballyhale Shamrocks Star, Adrian Mullen, is in a great place mentally and physically right now.
The ruptured cruciate ligament he sustained in February 2020 is very much in the past, and he can speak about it now with an air of detachment and even take some positives from the experience.
He learned a lot about his own body, has a much deeper knowledge of the benefits of gym-work, and a heightened appreciation for the pure joy of hurling.
That all said, it’s not something he ever wants to go through again.
“Look, it was obviously a horrible time,” says Mullen. “It was mentally tough and challenging. It was during lockdown as well so that made it that bit harder as well. I couldn't meet anyone to train with them so it was just all on my own.
“Just trying to link in with the physio team and Mickey Comerford, the Strength and Conditioning Coach, as much as I could.
“I couldn't even meet them in person so it was just all over the phone. It was tough but thankfully we got through it and I've no problem with the knee now thanks to that.”
He did have some doubts when he made his comeback in this year’s League with the Kilkenny hurlers.
Returning at the highest level after such a long time out and without the benefit of block of club games was always going to be a big ask, even for someone of Mullen’s rare ability.
He was thrown in at the deep end – against Dublin in the first round of the Allianz Hurling League – and it was a difficult experience.
Adrian Mullen prepares to make his comeback for Kilkenny after 15 months out with a ruptured cruciate ligament in the first round of the 2021 Allianz Hurling League against Dublin.
When Liam Rushe shouldered him he felt a brief, unpleasant sensation in his knee, and after an ineffective first half he was substituted at the break.
“It was very tough to get back up to the speed of things,” he admits now. “My first game was against Dublin in the League and that was 15 months after the surgery so I was out for a long time and it was tough to get back up to the speed of things.
“The big thing was just getting match practice under the belt. It just took every game and I had to try to learn from it. That was the big thing.”
He’s very much back up to speed now, playing a key part in Ballyhale Shamrocks’ fourth Kilkenny SHC title in a row.
Having missed last year’s club campaign due to injury, their dramatic County Final victory over O’Loughlin Gaels was all the more satisfying.
Wearing the green and white jersey has always meant a lot to him, and from a young age he was fired by the ambition to be part of a Ballyhale Shamrocks team that swept all before it.
“Definitely, when I was younger, I'd always be asking myself the question, 'Will I be good enough to represent Ballyhale?'” says Mullen.
“They had such a good team when I was growing up. Even with Kilkenny, you'd always be questioning if you're good enough.
“That just makes you work that bit harder. As a young lad, I remember pucking every day off the wall, just trying to get myself up to that standard. Thankfully, I made it on the Ballyhale team, and then the Kilkenny team.”
Ballyhale Shamrocks players, including Adrian Mullen, centre, and Eoin Cody, right, celebrate after the Kilkenny County Senior Club Hurling Championship Final match between Ballyhale Shamrocks and O'Loughlin Gaels at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.
The mindset to always want to be the best runs right though the Ballyhale Shamrocks club like the grain of an ash-tree.
Some of their longer-serving players have now won 10 County Championships and 5 All-Ireland titles, but their fire burns as brightly as ever.
On Saturday they play Carlow champions Mount Leinster Rangers in the AIB Leinster SHC Quarter-Final, and you can take it as a given they’ll turn up with their usual will to win.
“We're a hungry team, we're always looking for more,” says Mullen simply. “You can see that with the lads that won their tenth county final last week. They were just hungry for more. They just want to keep adding to their collection.
“I know people have questioned our hunger. I think we have answered that.”
