LINING UP ONE LAST SHOT AT INTER-COUNTY GLORY
Some players know this summer represents the end of the line, can they quit on their own terms?
THE dawn of the football summer invites talk of new beginnings, but for some Championship ’18 will represent one final trip around the circuit. Some will have already made their minds up while others, toying with the idea, will leave it in the lap of the circumstantial gods.
An early Championship defeat, a struggle to keep pace, failure to make the team or an impact from the bench, will likely serve to amplify ticking body clocks.
Sportsmail picks out 10 who head into the summer for one last flirtation with glory.
1 Kieran Donaghy (Kerry)
Five years ago, when he was an unused sub in a quarter-final win over Galway, he was privately resigned to calling time on his county career.
He ended up winning his fourth All-Ireland medal and a third AllStar that summer and while he has not been rewarded as handsomely in the interim, his value to Kerry is beyond question.
That is why for the past two leagues he has been given a free pass, and why he is almost certain to see game-time this summer, where his presence could have added value given Kerry’s need for transition.
But it is unlikely he will go beyond this summer – he will be 36 next March – and while he has railed against the notion that age will pressurise him into leaving, his county’s need to move on almost certainly will.
2 Keith Higgins (Mayo)
His decision to opt out this spring – hurling was the Ballyhaunis man’s sport of choice – could be seen in the same context as Donaghy’s, but the uncertainty about his return was real.
He will be 34 next year and at some stage he will have to decide whether a game that has only offered him individual glory – he is a four-time All-Star – is worth coming back to, especially if Mayo come up short again this year.
And if they do manage to cross the All-Ireland line, it would be a perfect way to take his bow and open up the door to dedicate next season in full to the county hurlers.
3 Andy Moran (Mayo)
This is more of a long shot given he is the reigning player of the year, but then that’s a gong which is as cursed in its legacy as it is weighty in its honour.
In recent times Bernard Brogan (in 2011) is the only player to have followed up a footballer of the year season with an All-Star award the following term.
On the plus side, Moran – as you might expect from the owner of a gym business – is in the shape of his life, but he will be 35 this November and if this summer does not go to plan, he will have to think hard about coming back again.
4 Frank McGlynn (Donegal):
In any poll of the most underrated players of this decade, you are likely to find the Glenfin man close to the top. His impact is grossly under-estimated by a solitary All-Star – he was also shortlisted for player of the year in 2012 – but there were clear signs last summer that his form had dipped. It is hard to know if that is terminal, but he will be 33 next year which means time is not on his side when it comes to reversing that blip.
5 Donnchadh Walsh (Kerry)
In a county where they like their forwards to come equipped with wands rather than shovels, it says much about his impact that he was so valued by management and supporters.
He is more skilful than he is credited for, but it is his engine and the selfless attitude that made him such a key player over the last half decade
But that is a young man’s game and there were signs – not least in a first-half torching by Mayo’s Colm Boyle last summer – time could be catching up on a player who be 34 in July.
6 Ryan McCluskey (Fermanagh)
After the retirement of Sligo’s Mark Breheny, he became the game’s longest serving county player. An exceptional centre-back, this is his 18th season and with his 37th birthday coming up shortly, it is likely that his biggest influence will be in the dressing room this summer.
7 Séanie McDermott (Roscommon)
The cornerstone of the Roscommon full-back line for over a decade – he made his inter-county bow in 2005 – but he dropped to the bench for the latter rounds of their promotion-winning Division 2 campaign.
Nevertheless, their Allianz League final win over Cavan, in which they conceded four goals, would suggest that he might still be called on to do a job.
How well he carries that out is likely to make up his mind as to whether he will go again.
8 Ross Munnelly (Laois)
Fifteen years after winning a Leinster Championship in his rookie season, he was back in Croke Park this spring playing a pivotal role in another Laois success.
He scored four points (0-2 from play) in the O’Moore County’s Division 4 League final success over Carlow which, at the very least ,will ensure he will see significant gametime this summer.
But whether he has the legs – he will be 36 this year – to come back for another shot is doubtful in the extreme.
9 Dessie Mone (Monaghan)
It could be argued that he has improved with time, morphing from an abrasive corner-back into a dynamic wing-back this decade, but in recent times his impact has been most potent from the bench.
He made his Championship debut in 2004 and he might see this as one last trip around the Ulster block.
10 Anthony Maher (Kerry)
He is still only 31 and won his only All-Star as recently as 2015, which would suggest that he still has some road to travel.
But he has been dogged by injuries which has left a huge question mark over how much, if any, gametime he will see this summer, while Kerry’s need for legs in the middle of the field suggests he may be running out of that road.