Donaghy laments injury woes
He is simply known as 'Star' to the masses, but Kerry footballer Kieran Donaghy will not be playing any starring role this Bank Holiday Monday at Croke Park.
The talented target man has been dogged with injury problems in recent months, with a repeat fracture of the instep of his left foot sidelining him for this weekend's All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Dublin.
Donaghy was at Ulster Bank Headquarters in Dublin yesterday to launch the new Ulster Bank GAA TV service available on the Ulster Bank GAA website.
He says that he has to put his own injury problems behind him, and instead concentrate on channelling his energies into assisting his Kerry team-mates as best he can.
"We've tried everything (to get me back into action), but it's about the 30 fellas that are going to be togging out on Monday," Donaghy beamed.
"I'm going to do my best for them as in helping them throughout the week. If anyone needs help in dealing with this kind of game, I've been through it in the 2007 semi-final.
"But we are lucky enough that most of the lads have been here before and played in this kind of a game before.
"I'm just going to be there giving water to fellas, and running around with Jaffa Cakes and stuff before the game but that's all I can do unfortunately."
It has been a bad run of luck with injuries for the 26-year-old, who is also a keen basketball player.
After he returned from a broken foot for the qualifier tie against Longford earlier this month, he was frustratingly back on the treatment table after an accidental collision with a Longford player.
"It's tough because I've been so unlucky that this operation has never actually occured with me before," Donaghy admitted.
"I broke the bone, got a screw put into it and then came back after 10 weeks, which was the time period that I was given.
"I came back playing well in training and came back up for a ball against Longford and I landed and yer man actually landed near my knee.
"It rolled me over on the outside of my foot and bent the screws that were tying it together and actually bent the screw inside on my bone.
"There was a bit of fixing in trying to get that out in the operation. They got it out and put a bigger one into it.
"Unfortunately, the last time I had the operation they said in four weeks you are going to be running, in six weeks you'll be sprinting, in seven weeks you can start twisting, turning and jumping, and in eight weeks you can play a bit of football.
"I went by that block-by-block and worked very hard off the pitch with (Kerry's physical trainer) Alan O'Sullivan, who was with me every morning at seven o'clock and had me out on the beach.
"It wasn't easy but I wouldn't have done it myself. I needed someone to drag me out and in fairness to Alan, I can't speak highly enough for what he has done for me this year.
"He helped me out and we did all the training and all of the work. I just got back and did it (broke the bone) again.
"But unfortunately this time there is no alotted timeframe. They haven't done this operation before so they don't know when it is going to be okay, and when I'm going to be ready to roll again."
There was a lot of speculation in the media and talk amongst GAA supporters, both inside and outside of the Kingdom, that Donaghy was rushed back after his initial injury ahead of the Longford clash, but the player himself says that he had ample time to recover.
"No, I actually came back perfectly on time. They said that I would be out for nine weeks and I'd be back back playing football with Kerry then and it was ten weeks to the Longford game.
"I wasn't pushed at all, I was flying for two weeks in training before it.
"It was just as the surgeon said to me, 'it had to happen that way'. My foot had to be down and a lad to roll over me.
"The chances of that were minimal and he told me that. I went to him two weeks before I was back playing and I went to him the night before I went training with Kerry and he told me all of this - 'Kieran you are ready to go, the bone is healing and there is new bone growing. The screw is solid and you are ready to go. If I see you back here, you'd want to be very unlucky'.
"I took it that I wouldn't be seeing him again, but unfortunately I have! That's the way it is but it is very tough."
But for now, Donaghy will be the Star 'Jaffa Cake and waterboy' this weekend as he hopes his Kingdom colleagues can advance to the last-four of the All-Ireland Championship once again.
Adopting a philosophical approach, he added: "It's been a tough year for me and I've had three operations this year. To be missing out on games like Kerry versus Dublin is tough, but that's the way the cookie crumbles."
