Neil McManus: Cushendall man says Antrim hurling 'in a good place' as he ends inter-county career
- Published
Neil McManus helped Antrim maintain their Leinster Championship status this summer
Antrim hurling's talisman Neil McManus has announced his retirement from the inter-county game after a 16-year career.
Speaking on BBC Sounds' The GAA Social podcast, McManus said that he "knew all year" that 2023 would be his final season in the Saffron jersey.
"But I go very happy in the knowledge of where the Antrim team are now," said the 35-year-old Cushendall man.
Darren Gleeson's side retained their Leinster Championship place last month.
"They are competing now with the teams who are serious about the knockout end of the championship," added McManus, who won several Ulster titles and two Joe McDonagh Cups with Antrim.
"There are a whole myriad of reasons why I knew this would be my last year.
"You don't ever want to outstay your welcome - not that I was ever really in danger of doing that."
'There's a nine-month-old child in the house'
McManus added: "But there's more stuff going on and I'm busier than I've ever been with things outside hurling. I want to spend a wee bit more time with my family as well.
"There's a nine-month-old child in the house as well which is great."
McManus said he considered stepping away from the inter-county game at the end of the 2022 campaign but that the season-long injuries to influential forwards Ciaran Clarke and Conor McCann "gave me a brave idea that I would be needed this year".
The Cushendall man, who made his Antrim senior debut against Dublin in 2007, believes physically he remains equipped to continue on in the Saffron jersey but says that now is the right time to move into a different phase in his life.
McManus says Darren Gleeson's arrival as Antrim manager in September 2019 convinced him to prolong his career in the Saffron jersey
McManus admits that it took the arrival of Tipperary man Darren Gleeson as Antrim manager in the autumn of 2019 to continue his Saffron career at that point after major lows for the county over the previous couple of seasons.
"Whenever I was 30 or 31, pre Darren Gleeson taking over, I decided that was it because Antrim were in a poor shape and what I was putting into it, I didn't think that everybody else was. It was rudderless to be totally honest.
"We were beaten here in Cushendall by Kerry [in June 2018] having been eight up and I was just like 'thank God that's over'.
"I remember walking back to the house after the game that day and I kind of had my mind made up.
"But meeting Darren Gleeson in a hotel in Ballymena just before he took over changed my thought processes with him saying 'you'll enjoy this, this is going to be really good, you deserve to be part of it, please come and be part of it'.
"By the end of that day, he could barely get rid of me."
McManus passionate about his community
McManus added that the attitude within the Antrim squad has improved massively thanks to the professionalism that Gleeson has brought and the Glens hurling hero admits he will miss the kinship that now exists among the playing group.
"I can't emphasise enough how much time I have for those lads in the changing room and how close that bond is."
But McManus will have plenty to occupy himself given his increasing family commitments in addition to his own work and business interests plus his involvement in a number of community projects in the Antrim Glens.
"I've a demanding enough role in work. I'm also doing a Masters and I've a young family and involved here locally with a community interest company where we are trying to help this area regenerate itself. The additional time in the week I don't think I'll complain about it, to be honest."
McManus' week includes bringing hurling lovers and those interested in learning about the caman game on a 'Hurling in the Glens tour' which he and legendary fellow Cushendall man Terence McNaughton have set up.
"We need to find a way to get the tourist buses that are rolling down here 10-a-penny to stop here. That would give local people the confidence to start business," concluded McManus.