James ready to go under knife again
WITH a sigh, James O’Donoghue explains that he’s sick of having surgery. However, he accepts he will probably need another operation on his troublesome shoulder at some point. The only question is when.
Surgery will mean at least six months of rehabilitation and missing next year’s National League. For the moment though, the 2014 Footballer of the Year is avoiding going under the knife again. His hat-trick at the weekend helped Legion to a big win over Kerins O’Rahilly’s in the Kerry SFC quarter-final and with both Dr Crokes and Austin Stacks out of the county championship, a big opportunity exists for the small Killarney club that have eternally lived in the shadow of Crokes.
‘We could be out of the championship on Sunday, though,’ O’Donoughue pointed out yesterday as AIB launched the club championship in Parnells’ impressive complex in Coolock. ‘In our heads, we thought wee would have to beatt Crokes if we were going to do something in the championship.
‘But Rathmore knocked them out and we have Rathmore, and they are going to be a bigger challenge for us because they are going to bring something different. rent. They beat us twice lastst year,year once in the East Kerry championship after a replay.’
There’s a sense within O’Donoghue that he wants to empty the tank for the club i n the coming weeks. Although they were out of the county championship when he went in for shoulder surgery last winter, there was still a number of competitions they could have won.
‘In fairness, I didn’t do the club any favours last year because I decided to get the operation,’ he said. ‘We had already lost in the county championship but we were still in a couple of other competitions and there were a few lads disappointed I didn’t play on. But I had to do it for myself. So maybe this year, I kinda owe it to the club to battle on.’
For such a small club, O’Donoghue says it is hard to put into words what a Kerry title would mean for Legion. ‘I would love for Legion to do something special this year, especially after the disappointment of the summer with Kerry.
‘We are a tiny club, we won the intermediate in 2005 but before that, I don’t know, we have barely won anything at all so to have a chance to win a county championship is a huge thing for us. I wouldn’t even think of going to Christmas, if we get to three weeks and get to the final, it would be a big thing for us and then I can fit in the surgery afterwards.’
His shoulder problem has meant there is little chance of O’Donoghue reporting for International Rules duty next month. ‘In a perfect world, I would like to play in it but with my trouble with injuries, I had to turn it down last year because of the shoulder so I don’t know where I stand now,’ he said.
O’Donoghue has been having problems with his shoulder since he was a minor. However, he thought he had put it all behind him until it went again in the All-Ireland SFC quarterfinal against Kildare. Having talked with Kerry manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice and others, he knows that the decision to try and fix iit again ultimately rests withwi him. ‘Éamonn wants me to dod whatever is best for my health,’ said O’Donoghue. ‘If there’s any question that I haveh to get it, I’ll do it. I justju need to be pushed in a direction.’ Legion’sL run in the club championshipcham has taken O’Donoghue’sO’Don mind off the disappointingdisappoin All-Ireland final performance against Dublin. The forward feels the crucial phase of the final was the spell in the first half when Kerry were dominant but hit a number of wides.
‘We had a purple patch that turned into a terrible patch in the first half because we kicked so many wides. If we had scored a few of them, we would have been in better shape at halftime. We could never quite get back level with them and that was the key,’ he said.
‘I know that from the club games we have played in the last couple of weeks — we have been ahead, we have been jittery but we have managed to stay ahead. If a team had got level and gone ahead, then you are talking about a different game but we never managed to get back level.’
He’s excited by the changes in the Kerry backroom with Liam Hassett coming in and Pádraig Corcoran taking over coaching duties from Cian O’Neill. ‘Cian will be a big loss,’ O’Donoghue said. ‘I get on well with Cian, he was a great coach but his home county came calling, so he was always going to go. I wish him well.’