John Muldoon is not finished yet, you can be damned sure of that.
Having signed a professional contract with Connacht in 2003 – the year everyone worth their salt was jumping ship – Muldoon has been though the lows and lowers.
291 games have passed since Muldoon made his senior team debut and, thankfully, Connacht have risen.
Last May, Muldoon captained the westerners to the Guinness PRO12 title – their first ever elite level trophy. At 33, he could have finished on a high but he wanted to test himself against Europe’s best in the Champions Cup.
He featured in the stunning European victories over Toulouse and Wasps and, this weekend, he will hope to lead the province into the knock-out stages for the first time in their history.
Pat Lam may be leaving the province in the summer and John Cooney may be off to Ulster but Muldoon is going nowhere. He has signed up for another whirl in 2017/18.
The back-row’s comments upon the announcement of his contract are an inspiration. He declared:
“It’s hard to believe next season will be my 15th with Connacht. In one way the time has flown by but we have also changed immeasurably as a club in the time since I started out. I am proud of everything we have achieved, highlighted by the PRO12 win last season, but I believe there is a lot more to come from us as a club.
“I have always said that I would like to continue playing if I had the physical fitness and mental hunger to do so. I am loving my rugby and continuously learning and it was an easy decision in the end to sign on again. It remains a huge honour playing for and leading my home province and I am really excited about the future of Connacht Rugby.”
Ready to charge. Not ready to give it up yet.
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