McMahon comes to terms with a career cut short by injury

His retirement barely caused a ripple. Paul McMahon approached a select few people within Shannon and informed them that his knee would not longer stand the strain. He then disappeared for six weeks to come to terms with the end of a rugby career, aged 26. This season should have been laden with possibilities, fuelled by the excitement of being named club captain at Shannon and the prospect of AIB League success. Last Sunday the club won the Munster Senior Cup but it was Andrew Thompson who climbed the steps at Thomond Park to accept the trophy.

McMahon officially retired in September 12 months after the incident which would end his career. The memory is still vivid. "I remember the day well. We were playing a Munster Senior League Development match on the back pitch in Musgrave Park against Sunday's Well.

"Just before half-time I was involved in an accidental clash of knees. If I had been hit full on the kneecap I would have been fine but I wasn't and tore a lump of bone out. The knee swelled but I finished the match and played a few All-Ireland League games.

"It wasn't until the day we played Terenure in Clanwilliam when both myself and Rhys Ellison went off that I realised I was in serious trouble. I received another knock on the knee that day. I was told that I required an operation."

McMahon underwent three operations and several bone grafts to try and solidify the damaged area. It never recovered sufficiently, just enough to be mechanically functional but lacking the sturdiness that would have given the player peace of mind.

Still he tried. "I came back for three or four months last season and at the beginning of this season tried to play in a couple of qualifiers with Shannon for the All Ireland Sevens final at Anglesea Road." The jarring impact of the hard grounds simply confirmed what he had suspected: the knee would never allow him to regain former levels of accomplishment, and he wouldn't dream of being a liability to his team.

"I knew I had to stop at that stage. It's now something I have to live with for the rest of my life and it was difficult initially. Nobody likes to feel washed up at 26. But life goes on and you begin to put things in perspective. I started to coach the under18s in the club and this season will coach the St Munchin's College Senior Cup side. That has been great. I would like to think I would be able to transmit a little of what I learned from my days to help them come through and play club rugby and possibly beyond that level. That would be very satisfying."

McMahon's rugby education began in St Nessan's Community College and he was on the first team that they entered in the Munster Schools Senior Cup as a 16year-old: he would subsequently be capped by the Munster Schools. An underage representative career was thwarted by what he considered then a serious knee injury - same joint - when he tore his cruciate ligaments.

He missed a little over a year and when he returned, headed for New Zealand. "I spent 12 months over there about five years ago in Southland playing with the Pokanui club, before coming back and joining Shannon."

McMahon still goes to watch his beloved Shannon but the former centre steers clear of the dressing-room scene. He may be club captain for the season but as the former centre concedes, "There's no point in me interfering when guys like Jeff Moylan, Conor McDermott and Andrew Thompson are more than capable of getting on with the job.

"It's important that the lads can focus on a game and they don't need me cluttering up the dressing-room. They have enough to worry about."

McMahon admits that his golfing prowess - he is a 14 handicapper at Shannon Golf Club - will not compensate for the contact sport he so enjoyed but he laughs: "I suppose I'll be able to try and get to single figures now rather than as a 35-year-old as I had originally hoped."

McMahon has come to terms with a redefined lifestyle. When the going gets tough and players start to feel the bumps and bruises, they only have to look to the stands to pick out McMahon and a host of young players whose dreams have been prematurely dashed. The aches and pains won't seem quite as bad.