Damien Comer says his ongoing battles to get onto the field for Galway are “very frustrating” and not sustainable for a whole lot longer.
The 31 year old has been plagued by injuries over recent seasons, which he believes go back to imbalances created in is body by an old ankle problem
Comer wasn’t at his best when it mattered last summer after he sustained an injury against Derry in the All-Ireland round robin series.
The Annaghdown man was only able to train once a fortnight at a stage, going in against some of the most finely tuned footballers in the country.
Comer’s fitness is key to Galway’s chances of putting the heartache of two All-Ireland final defeats in three years behind them and that’s why he didn’t want to “go down the same rabbit hole” as last year of rushing back into action.
The Tribe have a lot of what is needed for the new game, with an array of superb man markers, towering high fielders for kick outs and accurate two point shooters.
The one thing they’re lacking is a real physical inside target man, and that’s why Comer remains so vital to them. When fully fit, there are few better in the country.
Currently he’s injury free and feeling good. He gave the recent Connacht opener against New York a miss as it was played on an astro pitch at Gaelic Park, and he had a previous bad experience playing on one at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan.
“It was probably a risk that wasn’t worth taking, personally,” he says.
How long he can go on for is unclear though: “It’s just mentally challenging more than anything,” he continues. “For me, you don’t know what’s coming down the line.
“As well, for your team mates, not knowing whether you’re going to be playing or not is frustrating.
“Last year was very frustrating all round. So seeing TJ (Reid) saying he’ll be playing until he’s 40, I can guarantee you I won’t be.”
“I look at some lads and envy them that they can train 100 percent and give everything every day they go out training.
“I was that player a few years ago but obviously now it's not the same. When you get a little older, you have to respect that.
“There's a good bit of mileage on the clock and a good few injuries to deal with. They all kind of domino on top of each other so it's frustrating mentally, but it's just about how you can make it better.
“In fairness, I think I've done a lot of work this year to try and get on top of that with the medical team and the S&C team.
"In fairness to the management team, they haven't been pushing for me to get back too soon so hopefully that all stands to me from here on in for the summer."
A groin issue in the lead-in to Christmas was something he could have done without.
“During the League was about building slowly and trying to do everything right to make me as robust as possible for the Championship ahead, so it was more of a patience game,” he says.
“Could have probably forced myself to be back a couple of weeks earlier in the League.
“But at the end of the day it was keeping an eye on the Championship and making sure I was going to be able to play as much as possible compared to the way last year went.
“You just have to bide your time and make sure you have the work done. Last year was just the opposite. It was kind of rushing back and playing when you are not right and you have very little work done.
“(I) didn’t want to go down the same rabbit hole again this year.”
The last two years he describes as “the worst by a mile” with last year in particular “terrible.”
“It’s very frustrating,” he continued. “My expectations are probably very high and they probably shouldn’t have been (last summer) considering the work I had done.
“You are playing against lads who have probably done eight, nine months of work and you are struggling to get sessions in every two weeks - never mind every week.
“It was a struggle but that’s all I could manage last year, the way it went.
“That’s what I didn’t want to do this year. (I) tried to put the time and effort into it since the club season ended and just put a bit of work in it. But I got a knock in my groin in the club so I had to look after that before I could go rebuilding again.”
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