Cillian O'Connor has opted out of the Mayo panel for 2025 but his long-time team-mate Aidan O'Shea reckons this won't be the end of his Mayo career.
In a big blow for Mayo football, the 32-year-old informed the management team that he wouldn't be available for selection for the 2025 season.
O'Connor made his debut for Mayo in the 2011 championship as a teenager, making a name for himself immediately by winning two Young Footballer of the Year awards in a row.
The Ballintubber club-man has been Mayo's star forward for years, becoming the top scorer in the history of the All-Ireland senior football championship in 2019, but injuries have restricted him in recent years.
O'Connor has suffered from knee and achilles issues, reducing his game-time having only started twice for Mayo in the championship last year, against Cavan and Roscommon.
He was a sub for their preliminary quarter final loss to Derry, coming on in the 67th minute before scoring his penalty as Mayo were knocked out in a penalty shoot-out.
O'Connor has been commuting from Dublin to play for Mayo in recent times, working as a director for a recruitment company in the capital. O'Shea told the Gaelic Football Show, Irish Examiner's GAA podcast that he's 'disappointed' to see O'Connor step away but expects that he will play for Mayo again.
"I know he's been wrangling with this decision for the last couple of weeks," said O'Shea.
"Really disappointed to see him step away for the year.
"I know he's taking the year, just taking some time. He's obviously got his own business in Spot recruitment which is going from strength to strength, and obviously living in Dublin."
O'Shea reckons Ballintubber will see the best of O'Connor next year, before saying he's 'pretty sure' he'll play for Mayo again.
Aidan O'Shea of Mayo, right, consoles team-mate Cillian O'Connor after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final Replay match between Dublin and Mayo at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
"He's playing for the guts of fourteen or fifteen years so that can take its toll as well. He's fit and healthy, I'm sure Ballintubber will see the benefit of a few months off, getting ready for club championship.
"I'd like to think it's not the end of Cillian. I'm pretty sure we'll see him in the green and red again."
"Physically, I think Cillian will be perfectly fine in twelve months time. Maybe the mental break will be the thing that he's looking for. Maybe the freshness it brings will give him the grá to come back in again," O'Shea added.
