KARL O’Connell is well used to being asked the question.
Once the 30 barrier is crossed, winter rarely passes without the odd gentle inquiry about what the future holds – assuming there is a future at all. Now 37, the Tyholland man has had a good few years firing off the same answer.
If the body is right, and all is well between work and home, count me in. Go until you can go no more; it has become the Farney way.
This time, though, it wasn’t so straightforward because the body wasn’t right, or at least it hadn’t been by the time new Monaghan boss Gabriel Bannigan came calling.
For O’Connell, this was uncharted territory. In the 13 years since making his county debut, he had never suffered a major injury. Even the handful of games he didn’t play were at the manager’s discretion, each one coming like a dagger to the heart.
And then, last spring, a sharp pain in the abdomen shook him up for a few days. Physios worked their magic, and all was good again, nothing to see here - until a few months later, and a Championship clash with Kerry in Killarney.
Of all the times, of all the places.
“Something had been niggling at me for a few days, but I got through the first half fine.
“Then at the start of the second, I collided with one of the Kerry players, and it felt like my right foot was stuck in the ground and my whole body stretched to the one side… it was the most horrific pain I’ve ever experienced.”
Acute chronic abdomen pain. Rather than wave the white flag McConnell, typically, tried to run it off. But the next 15 minutes were torture as Vinny Corey’s men fell further behind en route to a 10-point hammering.
“The more I was moving, the more it was getting worse. I was getting slower, but for some reason the worse it got the more I ended up on the ball,” he laughs ruefully
“That was probably one of the most horrific games I’ve ever been involved in, just the way it panned out.”
This is where a bit of O’Connell’s personality comes into play. Missing minutes, even at his age, is not something that will ever sit easily.
Even before last Saturday’s opening National League game against Cavan, despite knowing he wasn’t going to be involved, McConnell found himself out in the middle of the warm-up. Then in the team photo. Then wondering if he might yet be needed.
Standing in the tunnel at Kingspan Breffni, his legs were shaking as nervous energy flowed. It’s just how he is wired.
“It was only when we were standing for the photo I thought ‘what am I even doing here?’
“That’s why I wouldn’t be an easy subject for the physios to work with… I probably do everything in my power to bend the rules with them.
“Even in Vinny’s first year when he was taking me out of training, which without a doubt benefitted me so much, I wasn’t taking it well – I was like ‘what’s going on here?’ Not accepting it, because I’d never been in that position.
“Vinny had obviously experienced that himself and knew the benefits… it was just something I had to get my head around, with the age and the miles on the clock.”
And so, despite being withdrawn in agony 20 minutes from the end at Fitzgerald Stadium, O’Connell went hell for leather to get himself right for the Louth game two weeks later.
Corey decided to hold him in reserve, sending him on for Kieran Duffy at half-time.
“I was putting pressure on myself to make that game, where Vinny said he wasn’t going to chance me – I probably wasn’t too happy about the decision, but in hindsight it was the right call….”
Because, eight minutes after running on, he was hobbling off when another innocuous enough challenge saw him fall backwards.
“Right there I felt something just rip.”
A torn adductor sent shockwaves through his system, leading to chronic pain and severe swelling right across the pubic area. The final round robin game against Meath was the first Championship outing he hadn’t togged out for in his county career, before Galway brought the curtain down on a forgettable year for the Farney.
“That’s why coming back in wasn’t as straightforward a decision as in previous years.
“That adductor injury led to fairly big complications, pushing the pubic plate out of place, so around that core area I had no power.
“When I was doing rehab trying to get back for club championship, it would be fine, but then a few days after this outrageous pain would arrive where you wouldn’t be fit to walk, get into the car, holding the little ones.
“To be honest, at that stage I was more worried about the impact on everyday life, rather than football, because it was just so sore. I was walking like a penguin.
“Thankfully the adductor has healed very well, from what I was told by the consultant I was very lucky not to need surgery.”
If there had been any pain once he returned to running, that would likely have been the end of the story. But he got through the final three games of Tyholland’s championship campaign, slowly but surely building into the winter months.
O’Connell, Darren Hughes and Conor McManus would text updates among themselves every now and again, each offering words of encouragement to the other. O’Connell was the first to signal his return, then Hughes.
Unfortunately for McManus, though, there was no more juice left to squeeze after dragging every last drop from a troublesome hip problem.
That’s why, despite the frustrations 2024 brought, O’Connell knows he is lucky to be where he is now – eyeing a return to the panel in the coming weeks, throwing his shoulder back to the wheel.
“The two boys have always been a big help to me, whether inside or outside of football. It’s just the connection you build up…
“I’ve gone my whole county career without a serious injury, so I’ve done pretty well. I probably wake up with grade two tears every day of the week,” he laughs, “but thankfully everything is going okay at the minute.
“The likes of me and Darren were in a different situation than Conor has been in; we knew what he had been going through for years, and when it’s affecting your everyday life, particularly at that age, it’s a tough call – but probably the right call.”
