PHILIP MAHONY expects early retirements to become more commonplace following his decision to quit Waterford.
There was widespread surprise when it emerged earlier this month that the wing-back was stepping back from inter-county hurling at just 29 but the Ballygunner man explained that, as club and county seasons blended into one another, he simply wasn’t enjoying it anymore.
“I’m 29 now, you’d swear I was 23 or 24 the way people are going on the last week or so but, look, I did it for a long time, I travelled up and down from Dublin,” he told Damian Lawlor on the GAA Now Live show.
“I probably wasn’t enjoying it as much as I used to. With Ballygunner the last number of years we’ve been going until late in the season without any break and that kind of thing and look, it’s a decision I made.
“It’s something I would have deliberated about a lot in my own head for the last two or three years and look, I spoke to a lot of people close to me and I just think it was the right time to step away for myself personally, to do some other things.
“Hopefully I have another good few years left with Ballygunner but yeah, I’ll miss it. I enjoyed it for a huge amount of years but it’s a decision I made and I’m happy with it and I’m sure the lads will be alright without me.”
Mahony insisted that there was no rift with new boss Liam Cahill, who has already made some big calls by dropping Maurice Shanahan and Noel Connors since succeeding Paraic Fanning.
“There’s nothing to it, it was just how I was feeling. I wasn’t enjoying it for a year or two there and in fairness to Liam, any time I spoke to him he was very accomodating.
“A lot of people wouldn’t have an idea of the amount of time and effort that goes into the game, particularly over the last two or three years and I just found that tough to keep going with Waterford and then straight back in with Ballygunner and then the reverse at the opposite end of the year and I didn’t get a break for a while.
“Look, it’s going to become more frequent that people step away at an earlier age because of the commitment and the time and effort that it takes.”
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