‘If I have to be carried out, I’m not going down without a fight’
When Martina McMahon describes her back injury as “not great news really”, the Limerick woman is definitely showing a flair for understatement.
The reigning world champion seeks to win back the All-Ireland title tomorrow in Kingscourt against Catriona Casey but she goes into the game knowing that she is a long way from fully fit.
“It happened back in early October, playing soccer would you believe. I didn’t even come into contact or anything, it was a freak accident. I tried to turn, my feet stayed forward and my upper body twisted and resulted in a bulging disc and two stress fractures,” McMahon explained this week.
“Obviously I took time out from competing to try to get the fractures to heal but I seemed to be still in pain. I ended up getting injections but got no relief as such.
“On the Thursday before the quarter-final, I met my consultant again and he told me it’s going to need surgery, it will be six screws and two fusions and that will be the end of my handball.
“It hit me hard there and then but my answer to him was that I’m not going for surgery now, just let me see out my handball for as long as I can.
“Ultimately, I’ve done a lot of damage. I said ‘it can’t really get worse, can it?’ and he said ‘no, once you can withstand the pain’. I told him pain isn’t a problem, I’ll get over that.
“I’m just trying to reduce the wear and tear as much as I can. Soccer and camogie and all other sports have been put to bed so it’s just handball for me now for as long as I can.”
Managing a potentially career-threatening injury is no easy task. In recent weeks, she says, it has been all about adjusting, learning what shots she can make and what movements to avoid.
“The game against Ciana was my first game back. It’s trying to understand what I can and can’t do. Obviously I’m restricted now, you wouldn’t realise how much you need your back for handball.
“I’m not where I was before but it’s all about trying to adapt my game now, finding out what I can and can’t do. But you know me, nothing is going to change my game away from shooting from any angle. Whether I can bend down or not, I’m still going to go for kills.
“On Saturday I might be injured, I might be like a geriatric around the place but my mind is still focused on bringing that title home. If I have to die or be carried out of the court, I’ll be carried out but I’m definitely not going to go down without a fight.”
McMahon’s 21-1 first game loss to Ciana Ní Churaoín in their round of 16 match was stunning – rarely do McMahon or Casey drop a game to anyone but each other and never on such a one-sided scoreline – but the Treaty star doesn’t use her injury as an excuse.
She dug deep and won the game anyway and has had things a little easier since.
“Ciana is a fabulous player, there’s no denying that. It’s just a pity with how the rankings are but I don’t think her correct ranking would be as low as she was. I had hit my first ball in over two years three weeks before playing Ciana so I knew I wasn’t near where the rest of them were.
“Even at that, in that three weeks I’d say I only played four times because I was trying to ease myself into it. I’d play and I’d come home and I’d be crippled. Obviously I didn’t want to over-train.
“I’m not going to use my back as an excuse for Ciana basically trashing me in the first game. I set her up and she executed the shots. In the second game I had nothing to lose and just kept going for my shots.
“I thought I was playing relatively okay in the first, I just wasn’t getting points. Then I got a bit of luck in the second, a couple of kills came off. Then in the tiebreaker, I got off to a good start. I got her out straight away and got a couple of points on the board and because they’re up to 11 now, whoever gets the first couple of points at the beginning has a big advantage.
“I just managed to keep it going. It was probably one of the toughest games to get on my return but I’m sure it will stand to me this weekend too.
“I played my quarter-final against Fiona, that was a tough enough battle and in the semi-final against Megan, I don’t think the scores reflected the game. It was an intense enough game.
“But once I’m inside, I just try to ignore the pain. Once the door closes behind you, you’re in there to do a job and I just tried to finish that job and come out the other side.
“As I said, I’ll worry about the injuries afterwards but for now, once that door closes behind me, I’m forgetting any back pain.”
McMahon believes mental resilience is a key component for any successful senior handballer and she is determined to prove it tomorrow against her brilliant Cork rival.
“We can him and haw and lick our wounds over the injury but handball is very much a mental game, especially at senior level. Your ability will take you so far as a juvenile but once you get to senior, it’s all about your mentality.
“I’m going in there pretending I have literally nothing wrong with me and I’m just going to play my own game. I’m not even going to focus on Catriona’s game for selfish reasons really, I’m just going to focus on myself, go for my own shots and we’ll see how the result goes.”
Interview by Paul Fitzpatrick
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