Just when you think he’s gone, Kieran Donaghy keeps coming back.
There are very few players like Kieran Donaghy. Yes, there’s plenty of big men that play full forward where the ball is just lumped in on top of them but the Austin Stacks man is so much more than that.
You don’t win three All Stars and a Player of the Year award by being a one-dimensional big man. Mayo found that out the hard way.
They found that out in 2014 when he was instrumental in the drawn game and they found out that putting on another big man in the form of Aidan O’Shea on him, Donaghy proved even at 34-years-old that he is more than what Mayo expected of him.
It is possible that Donaghy’s last act as an inter-county player could be getting sent off against Aidan O’Shea int he semi-final replay against Mayo, a sad way to bow out.
Although, Donaghy has always been very coy on when he will hang up the boots. It seemed like the end when he played with his daughter on the Croke Park pitch after the semi-final defeat to Dublin in 2016.
But then he came back and had another successful year for the Kingdom which included a league medal.
You do have to wonder how much Donaghy has left to give, he is not getting any younger and also has the commitment of playing basketball down in Kerry.
The Kerryman wrote a brilliant piece for AIB and revealed that he hasn’t decided on whether he will stay on for another year or not with Eamonn Fitzmaurice and his squad and it is down to the right reasons.
Straight after their defeat at the hands of Mayo, Donaghy is straight back in action with Austin Stacks as well as busy with basketball and the small matter of preparing for a second child. Priorities.
“I haven’t had a chance to think about playing for Kerry next season because I haven’t had a moment’s rest since the inter-county season ended for us. It’s been right back at it with Stacks and basketball, not to mention that baby number two is on the way. So I’ll come to that decision another day.”
Love him or loathe him, a game is always more interesting when Donaghy is on the pitch and no one would begrudge a true time great for playing one more season.
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