When Conor McManus left the field after Monaghan's All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin last summer, speculation was rife that the legendary corner forward would be stepping away from the inter-county game.
The Clontibret O'Neills man made his championship debut for Monaghan in 2007 and, 16 years later, was immense once again for Monaghan once again in 2023 as they reached the last four in dramatic fashion.
Something about how McManus left the field after the Dublin defeat - embracing his mother, father, and the Monaghan backroom team before taking his time leaving the Croke Park pitch - led fans to believe we may have seen the last of him in championship football.
15 July 2023; Conor McManus of Monaghan, left, and Monaghan County Board Chairman Declan Flanagan after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Dublin and Monaghan at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
McManus revealed in the weeks after that game that the only thing which would prevent him from returning in 2024 would be his recovery from a hip injury - and in a new interview he has revealed just how excruciating it has been to play through the ongoing pain caused by the injury.
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Conor McManus requires painkillers to play football
35-year-old Conor McManus was nominated for an All-Star award after the 2023 season. For a three-time previous winner, who claimed his first All-Star a decade previous, that is a simply outrageous feat.
It becomes even more impressive now that McManus has publicly revealed the extent of his injury issues.
Speaking to the BBC's GAA Social, McManus revealed that he has faced persistent issues in recent years as a result of an ever-worsening issue with an arthritic hip. McManus said that he is regularly confined to individual work on gym bikes while his teammates train - something he finds immensely frustrating as "the enjoyment in inter-county football is being on the field and training."
The condition means that there is no cartilage between the ball and socket, with the bones colliding with each other any time the hip is in motion.
A hip replacement is coming soon, and McManus said that he did consider retirement as a result of having to play through the pain barrier:
Probably sooner rather than later [he will get the hip replaced]. If I wasn't going back to play football this year, you'd probably be looking at it.
I've given it [retirement] plenty of thought and consideration over the last couple of months. It's not that I didn't want to commit. It's just that my body doesn't allow me to give it as much as you would like to...I figured we'll give it one more rattle and see where it takes us.
For a veteran like McManus to be operating at such a high level with such an extreme injury issue painting everything he does on the pitch only makes his recent achievements more impressive.
15 July 2023; Conor McManus of Monaghan in action against Paul Mannion of Dublin during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Dublin and Monaghan at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Monaghan fans will be delighted that McManus will be back for 2024 - but he did go on to say that he expects this to be his final season playing for his county, as the hip issues are set to become too great an issue to overcome:
The hip injury I have, it just won't allow me to go much further...I imagine this will be my last [year with Monaghan].
I'm not putting any definitive, I'm not going into the year saying that. We'll take it as it comes but it's hard to see how it could stretch to 19 years.
I have Vinny [Corey] there who probably knows my body as well as I do at this stage and the physio team. To be fair to them, they are brilliant at managing your load.
Monaghan get their 2024 league campaign underway on Saturday night against Dublin, with throw-in at 7:30pm at Croke Park.
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