MICHAEL RICE HAS ruled out any chance of another Kilkenny player attempting to overcome a cruciate injury to play in an All-Ireland hurling final.
Four years ago Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson came back from injury to start for Kilkenny against Tipperary but the Cats fell to defeat and Shefflin was forced off in the 12th minute.
On this occasion it is Rice who is sidelined with a torn cruciate ligament and he’s not planning a remarkable recovery.
“Obviously Henry and Tenno tried it before and that didn’t work out,” says Rice. “They’ve gone and been the crash-test dummies on that so I knew my year was over.
“It happened two weeks before the Offaly match (this season), in training, one of the boys had the ball and I was just chasing back. I knew there was something gone (immediately), the noise and the feeling of that grinding effect. Something had to turn and unfortunately it was my knee, not my foot.”
Rice counts himself fortunate that he has someone else to do the rehabilitation with. Peter O’Donovan, a club hurler in Kilkenny with Erins Own, is another cruciate victim.
“It’s two months since the operation now,” says Rice. “It’s improving every day. Peter O’Donovan, he got operated the same day, by Tadgh O’Sullivan in Whitfield (Waterford).
“I was in room 8, he was in room 9, we were saying it was the most immobile midfield you’d ever get because all we were looking for at that stage was a drop of morphine!
“It’s great to have him, we’re working on it every day together. Some of the exercises can be monotonous. We head to the gym together most days and tip away at it. You would need a partner in crime for something like that!”
Rice is hoping to come back to competitive action next spring and is still a part of the Kilkenny setup as they build up to next Sunday. Two years ago he also missed out on the All-Ireland final when he suffered a serious hand injury in the semi-final against Tipperary. The pain and frustration of watching on then were far harder to endure for the Carrickshock player.
“To miss the final two years ago was probably worse because that was so close! For the first four days they didn’t operate. It (the hand) was like a bad car, they’d to bring in parts from England for it.
“The first lad (specialist) I met it (not playing again) was a worry alright because it was so close to the joint but, in fairness to (the surgeon in James) she did a fabulous job.
“It’s nice to get in and have the craic with the lads like you normally would but also not be there moping around. I’m enjoying going to a bit of training and watching the boys and knocking around with them at the moment and looking forward to this final. It’s great to be back there.”
