On September 28, 2013 eighteen year old Shane O’Donnell sensationally wrote his name into hurling history when scoring a never to be forgotten 3-3 from play which secured the Banner their fourth ever All-Ireland Senior hurling title. Eleven years on from that glorious Saturday evening Clare are back in the greatest show and as if it was written in the stars it’s the rebels of Cork that stand in the way once more. It’s Hoggy versus O’Donnell, it’s the Reds versus the Saffron and Blue, it’s the Banner versus the Rebels but as far as the man who holds a PhD in microbiology  is concerned the 2013 final will count for absolutely nothing once Limerick referee Johnny Murphy throws in the sliotar on Sunday.
“On a superficial level there’s so many parallels between now and then but on a hurling level it’s almost chalk and cheese to be honest about it. It’s very hard to draw much relevance from the game except for the fact that it’s Clare v Cork in an All Ireland final again. Personally it’s strange to think about how I would have even hurled back then. 2013 was probably the last year or two that every team didn’t apply tactics to their approach. We were certainly developing it under Davy and I mean look at Limerick and how they took it on and turned it into a fine art. Now every other team in the country have been chasing Limerick and trying to get to the required level. Players are far bigger, they are far stronger and it’s a completely different game these days. Ball retention is a huge component of the modern game as are restarts and the ability to secure primary possession from those restarts. Having said all that there’s still a well known saying that as much as things change things stay the same. I mean you still have to go out and win your ball and try win your own personal battle. You still have to work tirelessly.”
When previewing the Munster Final Shane explained how people can sometimes reference getting over the line as if it’s just a case of just trying harder. The current favourite for hurler of the year stated that it is often the bounce of a ball that can decide who wins as there’s very little between the top teams on any given day. Bearing that in mind did he feel the bounce of the ball went Clare’s way in the semi-final or was there more to it than that?
“Well to be honest I know that I didn’t do anything different than I had done the year previous, we certainly didn’t put in any more effort than before but I did notice something different. The strength of our panel has been improving all the time and that strength in depth was very evident in the semi-final because the substitutions were game changers. They were brought on with plenty of time to have an impact and thankfully they certainly impacted on the result. For me that’s primarily the reason we are in the All-Ireland final. That’s what stands out to me about Saturday and that’s what is the most pleasing aspect of it all. Sometimes things can sound cliché but cliché or not you just don’t win anything without a panel and the proof of that was there for all to see.”
With the split season and the condensed nature of the Championship there’s very little time between the semi-final and final compared to the last time Clare were in an All-Ireland for the build up. Before the split season the lead up to an All-Ireland final could be a month. This lengthy timeframe allowed for plenty of opportunity to soak in the atmosphere, something which the two time All-Star winner intends on enjoying.
“I will be trying to soak it in as much as I possibly can. Even just to walk through the town and see people smiling is special. I don’t believe in locking yourself away and focusing on the game and nothing else. For me that’s not healthy and definitely wouldn’t help me to deliver a performance. It’s a magical time to be involved in hurling and you have to enjoy the fanfare. You have to soak in all the build up. You have to enjoy all the smiles on people’s faces and take it all in. Let’s be honest about it we don’t get to All-Ireland finals very often and looking back on 2013 there’s no way we thought it would take 11 years to get back to one but that just shows you how hard it is and that’s even more reason to enjoy the build up and to live in the moment.”
2024 has seen SOD as he is affectionately known to Banner supporters deliver quality performance after quality performance and is rightly the current favourite for hurler of the year. It’s quite a remarkable achievement when you consider O’Donnell doesn’t play league hurling anymore and one wonders how is he able to perform to that level after having so much time off?
“There isn’t an explanation really but for me personally I’d be a huge advocate of players, especially those that have given several years of commitment, of taking some time off. The feeling of freshness I get when I return is unbelievable. It works for me to commit for 3 or 4 months. There’s a balance to life then and all the important aspects of general life improve. For me my work, my family, my friendships all benefit from it rather than an eleven month year of hard slog and nobody benefiting, not me, not my hurling and not my personal life.”
The positivity doesn’t end there as although the recently turned thirty year old feels Cork have improved since their last meeting he feels the Banner will do the job that needs to be done.
“They’re definitely a better team than we played earlier in the round robin stages. They have huge momentum coming into this but remember we were the last team to beat them. We have the players to win an All-Ireland and as a group we are fully focused on delivering a performance and on doing whatever job needs doing on the day. I’m in no way worried that we won’t deliver a performance and hopefully then we get that bounce of the ball that every team needs.”