Ross Munnelly has confirmed that he will continue to play for Laois once inter-county action gets the green light in 2021.
Munnelly, who turned 38 in December, is the second longest-serving player in the game after Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, who is a year his senior and made his debut in 2001, two years before the Arles-Kilcruise man.
Munnelly could hardly have timed his arrival on the scene any better, with Laois winning their first Leinster title in 57 years in his debut season in 2003 and while they have slipped down the pecking order since, his enthusiasm hasn’t waned.
November’s Leinster semi-final defeat to Dublin, in which he came off the bench to score a point, was his 79th Championship appearance, leaving him eighth in the all-time list.
Speaking on the GPA’s Players’ Voice podcast, Munnelly said that the decision of the Government this week to withdraw elite status for inter-county activity would have no bearing on whether he will make himself available to manager Mike Quirke or not.
“No, not at all,” he said. “We have to follow the Government advice. The Government have made a decision.
“It’s clear now, we’re not going to be back for a while but I think every inter-county player in the country has been working hard individually over the last number of months.
“Certainly I’ve enjoyed that. I think S&C coaches have been working hard with players just trying to point out to them how they can do their exercise and where they can do it that’s permitted and safe and so on.
“We’ve got a fantastic S&C coach in Laois, Tom Hargroves, and he makes it very easy to understand what times we should be doing in our running and if people have gyms and so on at home, that you make the best of what you have so I’ve really enjoyed that opportunity, it has really allowed me to refresh and get a lot of training done in my own headspace and I’m really enjoying that.
“When the time is right we’ll be back playing football and the most important thing at the moment is that people stay safe and we continue to behave in a way that will make sure that our loved ones and so on stay safe so when the time is right we’ll be back.
“I’m really looking forward to it and when that decision is made we’re going to have brilliant GAA Championships once again this year.”
Listen to The Players' Voice podcast in full here
