Kerry forward ace O’Donoghue starts out on comeback trail

“I’m starting from down here again,” says James O’Donoghue, pointing to the ground beneath his feet. Which of course means the only way to go is up.

That O’Donoghue is saying this as reigning Footballer of the Year, with back-to-back All Stars and an All-Ireland medal, has nothing to do with false modesty, and all to do with genuine motivation. And why Kerry’s first championship match can’t come soon enough.

Because when O’Donoghue signed off last summer, the only way to go was down: he famously didn’t score in the All-Ireland final against Donegal, but was instrumental in Kerry getting there (and winning) – his 4-24 over the summer including a leading 2-20 from play.

Since then, however, he’s hardly kicked a ball – at least not a competitive one, as corrective surgery on his right shoulder, last November, resigned him to seven months of rehabilitation. Only now is that process complete, and despite some minor setbacks (he nicked his calf muscle, playing for his club, at the weekend), O’Donoghue insists the body is “ready to rock”.

Confidence

With that comes not a lack of confidence, but there is a need to prove himself, all over again – strange as that might sound. “Yeah, I do feel that,” he says. “Because I don’t know how this year is going to go. Last year was fantastic, you know, but right now I just have my one goal: get on the team. It’s like being a ‘newbie’ into the panel again.

“But I think it’s going to be very good for me, because I literally have to completely focus on every step at a time. A lot of fellas who’ve had good years have come back the following year and had poor ones. Because they haven’t been able to find themselves again, at the same level.

“So I think for me, coming up from being injured and timing my form right is going to play into my hands, hopefully perfectly. That’s what I’m going for, anyway.”

Kerry aren’t out in the championship until June 14th, when they play the winners of Tipperary and Waterford, and they’re going for a five-day training camp to Portugal on June 1st to polish preparations. For O’Donoghue, every day on the training field is a day well spent, although he has already dipped his toes into some matches.

"I've played a couple of internal games with Kerry, and two championship games with Killarney Legion, against Kerins O'Rahillys and Dr Crokes. I came on at half-time against Rahillys and put down the worst 10 minutes ever. I was absolutely all over the place. I couldn't even run. I don't know what was wrong with me. My brain wasn't working.

“Thank God, I blew that out of the system after 10 minutes. I felt good after that. I feel ready now. I nicked a calf over the weekend, but that’s always going to happen when you come back from six or seven months out. You’re never going to come back completely smooth. It’s all part of the rehab process. But I’ll be training Tuesday night.”

Shoulder operation

The surprising thing about the shoulder operation was that O’Donoghue was able to put it off for as long as he did, and that he was able to play so well before he had it. “I suppose the adrenaline would have completely blown it out of the water. I’m so used to playing with upper body injuries. I’ve hurt the AC joint, dislocated it, all that stuff. You get used to minding injuries and I was an expert at minding it.

“I didn’t want to get the operation, to be honest. But I didn’t want to go through another season of not knowing where I was at. I probably sacrificed a bit of preparation for the championship just to be physically right. There are upsides and downsides, but once I get my head sorted now, for a few games, I’ll probably be in a better position than last year.

“And the shoulder feels excellent. I’ve put serious graft into it, because I suppose the frustration of missing the league, not playing any football, meant I could put all the focus on getting the shoulder right.

“I probably could have put it off, again, but in two years’ time, I could have missed the whole championship, so it wasn’t worth it. I had time on my side. Legion were out of the county championship. So I have the seven months, if I missed to league, to get it right. The surgeon said six months, and I had the seven.

“Now I just need to get session, session, match, match, and completely get it out of my head. But I think that’s already well under way. I’m worried about my form now, my kicking, my hamstring and calf, rather than my shoulder.”

It shouldn’t take long for that confidence to soar. Coming into last summer, O’Donoghue admitted he wouldn’t feel like a proper Kerry footballer until he won an All-Ireland. Even now, with that medal won, the motivation remains unchallenged.

“I felt great for two or three months after winning the All- Ireland, but now I am kind of back to square one again, because I don’t know where I stand in the team. Once I get back into the team I can concentrate on winning more All-Irelands, but my first small step is getting back playing, back into the team.

“ That’s my goal, just put my head down, and get into the team. Then I can change my mindset to other goals.”

Like reaching for the very top again.