Damien Comer aiming for injury free year as Galway prepare for 2024 season
Michael Bolton
After six months without inter-county action, the Allianz Football League gets back underway this weekend, with a fit again Damien Comer set to line out for Galway.
Padraig Joyce's side get their season underway against rivals Mayo in Salthill, a repeat of the fixture which ended their championship.
The sides met three times last season, with Mayo rescuing a draw in the league opener, and defeating Galway in the Division One final.
While Galway will be keen to start their season with a win, Comer insists revenge is not a major factor going into Sunday's game.
"It's not going to be going out and getting revenge from it. Obviously everyone in the group last year was disappointed, more so with our performance than anything, but it is a tasty battle, there is always a bit of spark in the games because of the rivalry, we meet so many times in the year."
2023 was the start of the new structure in the championship, with the group stage of the All-Ireland series between 16 teams.
Consistency
Unfortunately for Galway, they were an example of how important consistency is in this new format. The Connacht champions looked certain for the quarter-finals, until the final moments against Armagh cost them victory, and set up an extra fixture against Mayo.
The Galway forward admitted their exit from the championship took some time to get over, as he admitted injuries to key players, including himself, played a factor at a crucial time in the season.
“We were doing pretty well up until the last few minutes of the Armagh game, our season was fairly on track. Within the blink of an eye, we were knocked out of the Championship. The last few minutes of the Armagh game, and playing that extra game six or seven days later, it cost us.
"The Armagh game was the big one, it just cost us. It was our own fault, we had plenty of chances to put the game away, but we didn’t. It was a bit raw for a while alright, but everyone had to get over it and get back to training and start the season again.
Injuries
“Injuries are the big one, because you could be out for two or three weeks, and you don’t really have the time frame, whether it is week on week in the group stages or week on week in the league, it’s all down to who can manage their squad the best. Whether that be squad rotation or injury prevention, it will probably help down the line.
"I wouldn’t put it solely down to injuries alone; we had a couple of injuries at the end, but we had them in the league and other lads stepped up. Probably not enough of us stepped up in the Championship when we needed to, so that will be a big one for this year."
Thankfully for Galway, Comer confirmed he is fit and ready to go ahead of the new season. A knee injury against Roscommon last February ruled him out of much of Galway's league campaign.
In a rather stop and start 2023, he was replaced at half-time in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final defeat to Mayo due to injury.
Now Comer is focusing on being fully fit for Galway in the key moments of this season, as Galway aim to learn from the mistakes of 2023.
"Just trying to keep on top of it is the big thing, prioritising different bits, getting my recovery done when I’m not training, making sure every training session is a good one and I am able to train, and able to participate in games at the weekend.
"It’s about chatting to the physio and S and C and management team as well, trying to play as many games as possible without overdoing it with the injuries I have had. Getting the injuries right will be key with the injuries I had this year.
"It's more what you can do outside of training, by diet, sleep, recovery, and then getting the balance right from a load perspective. I am at a stage now where I know my body well that if I'm in danger of doing something, I would sit out a session. I would rather be training all the time, but you have to balance it."
