Daniel Carey
MAYO ladies football legend Cora Staunton picked up a record-equalling tenth All Star award on Friday night – but admitted she has made ‘no decision’ yet about returning to play next year.
The 33-year-old has now emulated the achievement of Kerry woman Mary-Jo Curran, adding a tenth All Star to the gongs she picked up in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
“It means a lot,” she told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday). “It’s only really sinking in, and I suppose lot of the individual awards, you kinda don’t really take much notice of [them] maybe until your career’s over and you’ve time to look back and see what you’ve achieved. It’ll mean a lot more then.”
“Obviously in a team game, individual awards are nice to get at the end of the year, they’re nice recognition … but I suppose at the end of the year, it’s about the team who are competing to try and win Connacht titles and All-Ireland title. And obviously, we haven’t achieved that this year. But it’s a lovely honour to get at the end of the year, to be recognised as one of the top 15 players in the country.”
The Carnacon player said that her club’s unexpectedly early exit from the championship means she has a football-free November for ‘the first year in a long time’. She’s currently ‘enjoying the downtime’ and not putting her body through ‘the harsh training’ it would normally endure at this time of year.
Asked about whether we can expect to see her in green and red again in 2016, she replied: “I probably won’t make any decision till January – see how the body is, see how the mind is, see maybe is the hunger there to go for my 22nd season with Mayo. Whether it is at the moment is hard to tell. But I’ll make a decision.
“I’ll probably sit down, I’ll meet with management and discuss with them, see what 2016 holds for our management team as well – I’m not sure if Frank [Browne] is being reappointed. But you kinda wait and see what’s going to happen there, and talk to a few of my closest friends in the team, see what’s planned for 2016. But at the moment, I’ve no decision made.”
Staunton, who first played for Mayo seniors at the age of 13, was disappointed with how Mayo’s All-Ireland quarter-final ‘really petered out’, and admits that she ‘didn’t perform’ well herself in the last-eight game against Kerry. She added she’s ‘especially lucky’ to play for a ‘very strong club’. Carnacon’s first county title came in 1998, and they’ve won all 16 titles in the 21st century. She echoed comments she heard from a Cork player at last Friday’s event in the Citywest Hotel that football is ‘an addiction’.
“Winter football takes its toll on the body – playing on wet, damp pitches,” she added.
“So you’d be hoping that after a long rest, the body might be good for next year. But I’ll sit down and decide ... It’d be quite hard to give it up and say goodbye to it, but it’ll happen some time.
“But I’d like to be the one to make that decision. I always said that I’ll give up sport either when I’m not good enough to play anymore or if I’m not able to play anymore. So I’ll see in January … But if my head is right and my body is right, who knows what’ll happen?”
Kiltane’s Maria Reilly, a student at Our Lady’s Secondary School, Belmullet, was also honoured at the All Stars function as Connacht’s Young Player of the Year.
