HIS CALF GAVE way at the weekend to rule him out of a club game on the back of a shoulder problem that has sidelined him for the inter-county season to date.
But with All-Ireland champions Kerry on the cusp of making their summer bow in a few weeks, they will have one of their marquee men back in harness.
James O’Donoghue hasn’t played since the dizzying heights he reached when winning an All-Ireland senior medal last September. He clinched his case for an Allstar award and the Footballer of the Year bauble that day but O’Donoghue has played a peripheral role since then as he went under the knife to correct a shoulder problem.
“The shoulder is excellent,” revealed O’Donoghue since then.
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“I’ve put serious graft into it because I suppose the frustration of missing the league and not playing any football, I could put all my focus on to my shoulder which it needed the focus to be honest.”
James O'Donoghue celebrates last year's All-Ireland final victory for Kerry with David Moran. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
O’Donoghue has played some club football with Legion but is yet to sample fare with Kerry in 2015. He admittedly agonised over the decision to go under the knife.
“I didn’t want to get the operation to be honest. I probably didn’t want to go through a season of not knowing what I was at. But in two years time I could have missed the whole championship, so it wasn’t worth it.
“Some people ended up strapping it, to the body, and I went through that phase a couple of years ago, and I knew the strapping wasn’t for me.
“I probably sacrificed a bit of preparation for the championship just to be physically right. But once I get my head sorted now for a few games, I’ll probably be in a better position than last year.”
Once he comes through the heat and fury of Kerry training sessions, O’Donoghue is confident he will be set for action.
“It’s all about the sharpness. You’d be testing it without knowing. You have to get three or four games under your belt and that is just gone then. It’s just a bit of time. Hopefully Mark (Griffin) absolutely lays me out (in training) and I’ll be fine after it!”
Surgery over, shoulder sorted and 2014 Footballer of the Year all set to go
HIS CALF GAVE way at the weekend to rule him out of a club game on the back of a shoulder problem that has sidelined him for the inter-county season to date.
But with All-Ireland champions Kerry on the cusp of making their summer bow in a few weeks, they will have one of their marquee men back in harness.
James O’Donoghue hasn’t played since the dizzying heights he reached when winning an All-Ireland senior medal last September. He clinched his case for an Allstar award and the Footballer of the Year bauble that day but O’Donoghue has played a peripheral role since then as he went under the knife to correct a shoulder problem.
“The shoulder is excellent,” revealed O’Donoghue since then.
“I’ve put serious graft into it because I suppose the frustration of missing the league and not playing any football, I could put all my focus on to my shoulder which it needed the focus to be honest.”
O’Donoghue has played some club football with Legion but is yet to sample fare with Kerry in 2015. He admittedly agonised over the decision to go under the knife.
“I didn’t want to get the operation to be honest. I probably didn’t want to go through a season of not knowing what I was at. But in two years time I could have missed the whole championship, so it wasn’t worth it.
“Some people ended up strapping it, to the body, and I went through that phase a couple of years ago, and I knew the strapping wasn’t for me.
“I probably sacrificed a bit of preparation for the championship just to be physically right. But once I get my head sorted now for a few games, I’ll probably be in a better position than last year.”
Once he comes through the heat and fury of Kerry training sessions, O’Donoghue is confident he will be set for action.
“It’s all about the sharpness. You’d be testing it without knowing. You have to get three or four games under your belt and that is just gone then. It’s just a bit of time. Hopefully Mark (Griffin) absolutely lays me out (in training) and I’ll be fine after it!”
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Munster SFC Injury James O'Donoghue Kingdom Return Surgery Kerry