He’s a busy man, but he’s well used to it at this stage.
When David Breen went over to Edinburgh to study for his masters in Physiotherapy in 2010, he thought that might be the end of his hurling career. Fast forward seven years and he’s still on the road with the Na Piarsaigh senior hurling team.
Back then, a flight home every weekend for training of a Friday night and Sunday morning was the measure he took to keep himself on the Limerick panel.
Now, based over in England as a physiotherapist with Wasps rugby team, he’s still making sacrifices to play the game he loves, but this time, he’s doing it for his club.
Na Piarsaigh will take on Ballygunner in the Munster club hurling final on Sunday, with Breen and the Limerick men aiming to win their fourth provincial title since 2011.
Speaking to Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour Show on Thursday, Breen revealed the journey his physiotherapy career has taken him on.
Breen left the Leinster rugby set-up for Wasps in June 2016 and he had very legitimate reservations about making the commitment to the Na Piarsaigh set-up, given the journey he would have to make for training.
“I wasn’t really expecting to be still playing when I came over to Wasps. When I was with Leinster, I was in Dublin, so Limerick is only two hours away on the motorway, but when you’re over here, it’s a different story,” began the 32-year-old.
“Never mind trying to find a hurling wall or trying to find someone to puck the ball back to you,” he added.
Between a busy day to day schedule with Wasps and travelling home for training, he somehow finds the time to keep himself sharp and in shape by making it his business to get out running and to get friends to puck that sliotar back to him.
He doesn’t have the time to join up with a GAA club over there, but he still gets the work done.
“I suppose it’s a mental thing. When I finish work it’s about getting the boots on and getting out on the pitch and trying to get one of the lads to puck the ball back to you from behind the goals,” said the Treaty county man.
The Na Piarsaigh management obviously trusts their half forward to do the work when he’s abroad, but the focused, dedicated attitude that he presents in this interview leaves you with no surprise as to why.
“The management were pretty sound about it, they just put it back to me. They said, we want to have you if you want to keep playing and we just took it from there,” he added.
A broken ankle he sustained in a challenge match earlier on this year might have forced a lesser character to take a step back from the commitment, but Breen has tunnel-vision.
“I got back early on in the year, and the first game I played in, I broke my ankle, and came back to Wasps in a boot and crutches. I was a couple of months recovering from that,” said the strong attacker.
A frequent visitor to airports, he regularly gets flights home for Na Piarsaigh training and challenge games when he can get away from work.
All he’s asked from the management in return is a fair chance and that they wouldn’t have any prejudice against him if he didn’t make every single session. They’ve fulfilled that promise for him.
“All I asked for from the management was that they wouldn’t have any pre-conceived notions that I wouldn’t be fit just because I was out foreign or something like that.
“The boys have put their trust in me (to keep myself fit).
With an attitude like that, who wouldn’t?
For now, he’s just focused on Ballygunner.
“They’re a well-seasoned team, they’ve been here before, but it’s going to be a good one.”
You can listen to the Breen interview (From 51:30), and much more from Thursday’s GAA Hour Show right here.
