I’m just going to eek out as much as I can for as long as I can

MCNAMEE DETERMINED TO KEEP GOING

NIALL MCNAMEE hopes to keep playing for Offaly after revealing that he is still getting over the effects of a bad concussion suffered in 2019.

It was while playing for Rhode in a club Championship semi-final that he suffered a heavy blow.

“The biggest thing was it was going to take time,” said the 35-year-old.

“You have to be careful in terms of what you do, your contact, but I wouldn’t be worried about it long-term.

“I’m trying to eek out as much as possible from a sporting point of view, to try and go for as long as I can.

“But if I feel it’s going to have a negative impact on my life and I’m not able to fully operate, then it wouldn’t really be worth it. I’ll just have to say ‘look, I just won’t be able to do it any more’.

“I’ve managed it fairly well that I know when it’s a struggle and how to mind it.

“In the last few months it’s got a lot better. I really do feel like I’m over the hump of it.

“The biggest thing would be getting another one, that would have a bad knock-on effect. Hopefully that won’t happen.”

The concussion caused him to struggle for the majority of

2020.

“I played club Championship but minded it as best I could, staying out of tackles, taking nights off training if I had to,” Mcnamee recalled. “It was difficult. I was getting very tired, sleeping for an hour or two during days. I wouldn’t say it’s gone – it comes and goes.

“Scary enough, there’s no doubt. I’ve been knocked out a few times but never had any after-effects. “This one was tough to deal with.” After coming home from hospital, Mcnamee was sitting on his couch when he started to cry for no reason.

He said: “Herself was here with me, I was saying, ‘I’ve no idea why I’m crying’.

“I hadn’t read the pamphlets they gave me in hospital, but she had and she said, ‘it’s just one of the side effects, it’s perfectly normal’.

“There were days where you just feel down. It lasted for a while. It’s difficult because you want to try and snap yourself out of it.

“I’ve built up a very strong network of people close to me. That was huge, to be able to share that.

“To wake up some mornings and not feel like myself was tough, because it’s not who I am. I just had to deal with it. I know it’s getting near the end with Offaly, so I’m going to try and enjoy it.”