Senior football the big incentive for Mullen as

Mullen started out with the Cille’s at adult level when he was about 15.

‘I was asked to be sub keeper for the Junior Bs. I think that was 1995 and 1996, so I’ve been playing since apart from two bad injuries, playing 20-odd years now,’ he recalled.

‘The first three years we won the U-21 and then we got to the semi-final of the Intermediate and we thought we were going to win it the next year, but it was 10 years later before we got to another semi-final. We never won anything else until the Corn Na Boinne there a few weeks ago.’

Retirement has entered the 35-year-old’s head on a number of occasions in recent years, especially after he did his cruciate in June 2015.

‘I suppose a couple of times in the last two or three years I did think to myself maybe it’s time to retire. It doesn’t get easier when you’re getting older. I’ve young kids and then you hear it’s a young man’s game. But on the flip side, if I wasn’t playing I would be sitting at home, probably doing nothing.

‘Winning the Corn Na Boinne was something and I am glad I came back. I wasn’t going to come back at all this year. I only returned to play Junior B in March and then it went from there. There were a few lads away on holidays and I had to fill in and I felt comfortable enough and I just kept going.’

Not only is Mullen an important part of the team, but he also doubles as a selector along with coach Colm Nally and Mickey Brennan. It is hardly surprising that Nally would want Mullen as part of his backroom team, considering his depth of knowl-