KILLIAN YOUNG HEARD the crack and looked down. He didn’t need a doctor to give him the bad news.
The following weekend he should have been a part of one of the games of the summer, a glorious addition to Kerry and Dublin’s fabled rivalry, but instead he was stuck in bed.
It hurt him not to be on the pitch with the green and gold number six on his back, but it was even worse to be hundreds of miles away from Croke Park, watching on TV.
Though he’s only 27 Young has been through his fair share of epics and that Sunday, he knew what he was missing.
It goes without saying that there’s never a good time to break your fibula but the week before an All-Ireland semi-final is especially cruel.
He still hasn’t fully recovered — he doesn’t expect to play again until the latter stages of the league campaign at best — but even as he talks through that ill-fated training game in Fota Island, it’s clear that he’s looking forward rather than back.
“It could have happened 20 times over,” he says. “It’s football. It’s life. Sometimes it can hit you hard so you just have to get on with it.”
The break itself was just one of those freak accidents, he explains.
“My ankle was actually strapped at the time but it was the way the ankle turned over so much, it dislocated, and for your ankle to dislocate your fibula has to break.
“It all happened in a split-second.”
“You just knew,” he continues. “You heard a crack and you looked down and your foot is gone in a completely different direction. You just knew that was your time.
“At that moment I was in complete shock.”
Young, right, with Dublin’s James McCarthy and Donegal’s Karl Lacey at the launch of Setanta Sports’ Allianz Football League coverage (INPHO/Cathal Noonan)
Once the morphine wore off, the initial worry was that he might never play again but once he met Johnny McKenna, the Sport Surgery Clinic’s ankle specialist, his mind was put at ease.
It would take time — eight weeks in a cast for starters — but once Young upheld his part of the bargain and did the necessary work, he’d be back.
“Progress is good,” he says with a smile. “I’m working hard in the gym at the moment. I haven’t started running yet but hopefully in the next two or three weeks.
“I’ve no date set. We’re going every two weeks, getting the body reassessed and making sure it’s in tip-top shape.
You don’t want to rush into things and get setbacks down through the year so it’s something that you need to be careful with.
He made the most of his time on the sidelines, booking himself in for keyhole surgery on a knee injury that had been niggling away at him. Eamonn Fitzmaurice won’t rush him back but with Eoin Brosnan and Tomás Ó Sé both hanging up their boots in the off-season, the experience of a three-time All-Ireland winner would certainly be welcome in the half-back line.
In the meantime Kerry are experimenting, not least with Paul Galvin who has come off the bench to play at centre-back in the McGrath Cup.
“Paul, as we all know, is a very versatile player who is comfortable on the ball, and is a very organised person as well. That’s the key at centre-back, being organised and having your defence set.
I think it will be an interesting one. Hopefully when I come back, I can put a bit of pressure on Paul and on the wing-backs as well, which will push the team forward.
It’s early days in the experiment yet but Galvin has previous in the position having lined out there alongside Fitzmaurice during UCC’s Munster club championship win in 1999.
Young agrees that dropping further back the field could give the squad’s old head a new lease of life.
“It would, like any player in a new position, it would. I really do think Paul would be a success there.
“He’s in great condition, looks after himself really well, and is a fantastic leader. He’ll bring great experience to the half-back line which will be needed.”
And what if Galvin makes that number six jersey his own by the time Young is fighting fit again?
“I won’t leave him off easy, I’ll push him all the way. If anything, that will benefit the team and push the half-backs as well.
“I’ll obviously have a pre-season done before I get back so it will put me in a great position to push the lads. That’s what’s going to carry the team forward.”
Hopefully the trio make it! They are an integral part of our Six Nations squad. Keep it up lads!!!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: lowe and Dan are part of the 6 nations squad but connors is nowhere near that squad. Hodnet, timoney, pendergast are all way ahead of him. Not to mention with conan going to 8 we have doris who can play 7 as can POM. Infact I’d rather see Scott penny get time for leinster than will.
@chris mcdonnell: I completely agree. I’d ate my own underpants if Connors is named tomorrow
@Niall Boyle: hopefully those pants are in better condition than the pair I wore on Sunday
@Niall Boyle: I’ll hold you to that
@chris mcdonnell: with the best will in the world POM cannot play 7 in the 6 Nations.
Hope they don’t rush Sheehan back this Saturday. 50 mins against the Stormers on the 25th of Jan and then into the 6 nations squad. Connors now needs to stay fit for the rest of the season if he wants to ever make an Ireland squad, at nearly 29 time is running out
Lowe is too slow. Osborne a better long term bet.
@conor carroll: Osbourne isn’t a wing, he can do the job but he’s a 12 or 15. Lowe being “slow” didn’t stop him being named in the world XV this year or being one of our best performing players.
@conor carroll: not on the wing he isnt,hes not a winger and it showed on sunday,great 12 and 15,lowe though offers far more on the left wing,breaks tackles,carries,big left boot and has vastly improved his defence,also always goes hunting for the ball and gets stuck in to mauls and excellent under the high ball,pace is not everything.
@conor carroll: Interesting statement. If you actually watched rugby you’d see that Lowe is probably quicker than Osborne in a foot race. Osborne has many, many strengths. Pace isn’t one of them.
@conor carroll: Nash is the pace merchant played all the 6 nations last year
Honestly, is Lowe still a starter for Leinster? I just really can’t see how you leave out Jamie Osborne even if he was rusty on the wing at the weekend, like his skill level for that try was ridiculous. He also has just a big left boot as Lowe.
@Eoin H: lowe is the left winger for both ireland and leinster.
@Eoin H: Osborne isn’t a winger and should only be playing there in a pinch. Lowe is also the better player generally right now
@Gary D: He definitely isn’t the better all round player generally, no way
@Eoin H: Well he has been a starter for the last 7.5 years. And he was a starter right up until his injury. Osborne is far far better utilised at 12 or 15. Let’s just play lads in their correct positions.
@Eoin H: I partially agree with you. Osbourne has an ability to hold on to passes that others would knock on and is too good to leave out of the team. Lowe is a try scoring machine as well though so not sure I’d leave him out either. I’d probably play Osbourne at 12 and leave Henshaw on the bench for impact