Declan Hannon is not about to start moping around feeling sorry for himself. It’s not his way. Nor has it been Limerick’s way under John Kiely.
The Treaty County will play an All-Ireland SHC semi-final on July 8th without their captain, a knee injury Hannon suffered during the Munster final has ruled him out of the last four clash at Croke Park.
It has been a glittering period for Limerick hurling, but this all-conquering era is all the more impressive when you consider the extraordinary success has been achieved against a backdrop of several key players suffering serious injuries at various stages over the years.
Richie English, Mike Casey, Peter Casey and Seán Finn have all endured lengthy spells out of action with cruciate injuries, while Cian Lynch has had troublesome hamstring and ankle problems. But no matter who gets injured, the overarching outlook within the camp has always been: Next man up.
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When Hannon initially felt a jab of pain in his knee, immediately the fear was an ACL injury, which thankfully was not the case. And while he will miss the semi-final, he hasn’t ruled out featuring in a possible All-Ireland final, should Limerick advance. Either way, as team captain, he intends to remain a positive force in the dressingroom.
“In Limerick over the last few years we’ve had a couple of lads who suffered long-term injuries,” says Hannon. “We had it this year with Seánie, obviously Cian last year and Mike Casey, Peter Casey and Richie English over the last number of years too.
“They suffered injuries that put them on the sidelines for a long time. The way they reacted, I’d look back on that and they were always so positive.
“It’s fine, it is what it is, it’s part of the game. I’ve been lucky enough so far in my career that I’ve never had any major injury really, so it’s fine. We’re all okay in Limerick, so we are.
“You even see Seán this year, he has been so positive around the place and getting on with it. I suppose that has been the mantra in Limerick the last couple of years, whatever happens, you just have to get on with it.
“Somebody will stand up and step in and do the job maybe you were doing previously.”
Still, Limerick will now be entering an All-Ireland semi-final without two defensive pillars – Finn and Hannon. Finn is one of the best corner backs in the game while Hannon has been the team’s glue at centre back.
This latest injury setback will force another reshuffle from Kiely.
“We have a fantastic panel of players,” continues Hannon. “Whoever ends up going in will do a really good job. The training we have done over the last number of years will stand to everyone regardless of who goes in.
“That’s what a panel is for, it’s never just a couple of players that win the game for a team, it is the 36 players that are training all the time and putting in a massive effort so when the time comes for them to step in they are ready.”
Finn has been helping out with the video analysis work in recent weeks, but Hannon has not yet put his hand up for a similar role in the back room team.
“I don’t know if I want to do the analysis, if I’m being honest,” he smiles.
“No direct role yet, but I am still going to all the training sessions and you’d have a bit of craic with the lads before training and afterwards. Then you’d do your own bits while they are on the pitch, so you are still heavily involved in it.
“It’s not as if you are out in the wilderness. You are still part of it.”
The 30-year-old Adare clubman is one of the most decorated players in the game, and he made history last year by becoming the first captain to lift the Liam MacCarthy on four different occasions.
He captained Limerick to the county’s first ever provincial five-in-a-row too. Following that victory over Clare, some Limerick players reached for the trusty, everybody wrote us off, quip. And Hannon feels there might have been some critics writing the team’s obituary.
“Maybe they were, like, yeah,” he says. “But I don’t care, we’ve enough going on within the camp to focus on, so whatever is being said outside is kind of irrelevant.
“I wouldn’t say it was a motivation. Within our own group, we set our own standards. We set high standards for ourselves and we are often disappointed when we don’t hit them.
“And I think throughout the Munster championship we mightn’t have hit them at all. That’s one thing that we can really focus on getting ready for the semi-final to go after them as hard as we can.
“But in terms of a motivation that people on the outside are saying that we are dead and buried or whatever, that doesn’t come into our psyche at all.”
If Limerick do manage to get over the line in their semi-final, then Hannon hopes to be available for the All-Ireland decider on July 23rd.
“I’d try and play some part if I can at all, if they throw me in there,” he says. “Look, it just depends on how it recovers in the next few weeks.
“Sure, you’d always be hopeful.”
– Declan Hannon was speaking at the launch of eir’s new Poc Tapa Challenge. The challenge will see the fastest team in the country win €5,000 for their club and a chance to play at Croke Park.
