The off-season was particularly hard for Cork forward Amy O'Connor, but with a league medal in the back pocket and an All-Ireland semi-final spot secured, things are looking good for the St Vincent’s player.
She departed last year’s victorious All-Ireland decider with a Lisfranc injury (a midfoot injury affecting bones and ligaments) and slogged through the off-season with her rehabilitation.
Seven and a half months later she returned for the concluding stages of the league campaign, picking off four points in the win over Tipperary.
The skorts issue denied the Rebels the chance to add provincial silverware with the postponement of the final against Waterford.
Cork have steamrolled their way through Group 1 – three wins from three and a points difference of +65 – and they have a month to sit back and watch others scramble for a place in the last four.
"We had a very good league and started off well in the championship before the postponement of the Munster final," she told RTÉ Sport at the summer season launch.
"Things are going well. There is so much competitiveness in our group. You never know on any given week who is going to play."
Cork still have to conclude their group campaign with a fixture this weekend against winless Wexford. Despite having nine points to spare against Clare last time out, ensuring they bypass the quarter-final stage, they hit 13 wides and never looked like they were out of second gear.
Having enjoyed a three-week break prior to the victory over Clare, Cork face into a month lay-off after this weekend. The fine line between staying in tune and getting the right amount of time to recharge is high-wire act, with O'Shea insisting they have to use it as a positive.
"I don't ever remember having a three and four-week break before," she said, "but I don't think that is an excuse either. We need to be at the races as any team can beat anyone. We’re probably a bit disappointed with the Clare performance, but at the end of the day, we still won by nine points.
O’Connor sat the game out owing to an ear infection, and watched on as the Banner tried to upset the odds.
"It was a little flat," she said of their performance. "Clare came at us with a plan. Their plan was to sit back and defend a lot, which they did.
"They have some really good players up front as well, Róisín Begley was excellent, Jennifer Daly too. They posed a different challenge, and we need to figure out how to overcome those challenges."
O'Connor doesn’t expect too much experimentation against the Slaneysiders, and is itching to get back on the pitch.
"I did a lot of work over winter. I have been lucky in that I have been on the senior panel 12 years and that was my first bad injury. It was a disaster, but probably happened at the best time."
