I left Mark for far too long: Foley
THE man with the most hurling Championship appearances for Limerick believes he stayed too long on the inter-county scene.
Mark Foley played 129 games for Limerick in 16 seasons but admits he felt relief after he finally called time on his playing career after defeat to Tipperary in the 2009 All-ireland semi final.
“I always felt maybe with the onset of years that I should have gone after 2007, after being beaten by Kilkenny in the All-ireland final. I came back in 2008 and we were well beaten by Clare in Munster and they got goals against us that day,” said Adare man Foley.
“I stayed on for the following year again and even though we got to the All-ireland semi-final Tipp hammered us [6-19 to 2-7]. I always felt since that I should have gone in 2007, I had my bit done.
“If I had my time again I would have ran out the gap. I’d have been happy with my lot. If you were in Kilkenny or somewhere like that you wouldn’t have that luxury, you’d be out the gap and that’s it, with no questions asked.”
During that 2009 season Foley overtook Timmy Ryan as the player with most Championship starts for Limerick – they both made 48 SHC appearances – and speaking to A Hurler’s Life podcast, Foley says stepping away from the county game came as a massive ease to him.
“I was glad I was out. There is a relief when it’s all over. I was just relieved I was gone out of it. You feel that for a long time you are nearly responsible for everything that goes on.
“Sometimes you take on too much responsibility and you beat yourself up.
“I struggled for the last three or four years to get fit. There was a lot of hard work in that. I didn’t regret being gone from that.
“The levels that the game was going to.
“I knew there was a couple of players coming. But I wasn’t sure that they were ready, maybe I stayed on a year or two too long.”