CORK DUAL STAR Briege Corkery last night joined a prestigious list as one of the most decorated players of all time in terms of individual awards, as she won her tenth All-Star.
The only two others on the list are Mayo sharp-shooter Cora Staunton and Kerry legend Mary Jo Curran. Corkery was named on the All-Star team in midfield, partnered by Mayo’s Fiona McHale.
For over a decade, Corkery has been pivotal for both her inter-county football and camogie teams, winning eleven All-Ireland football titles and six camogie honours.
But, last night she told Off The Ball that she may consider a break next year, or maybe even retirement.
“I suppose all along with the last however many years, I’ve always just came away going ‘yeah sure I’ll play again next year.’ This year, for the first year, I’m thinking ‘what’s going on?’
“It’s the first year I’ve ever thought about it. We’ll give a think about it now for another couple of weeks. we’ll winter away for another bit and we’ll decide after that then.”
The 29-year-old St Vals club woman took a step away from the inter-county scene in 2010, the one year in the past twelve that Cork didn’t win the Brendan Martin Cup.
She admits though, that she would miss many aspects of representing her county, but also hinted at taking a break for a few months, rather than the entire year or more.
“I actually love the league games, I love the craic on the bus, we’d be watching videos and stuff like that. That’s the part I’d probably miss the most.
“You don’t really enjoy championship that hugely because you’re gearing up for the game and the game is so hard. I love the league, I’d hate to miss out on the league. Maybe that’s an option too [taking time out at the start of the year] but we’ll take our time.”
Corkery says that she’ll decide on her future over the coming weeks, before Ephie Fitzgerald’s side kick off their league campaign and begin the hunt for their twelfth All-Ireland title.
“I suppose it’s whether you want to put in the hard slog in January, February, March or not. That’s the biggest thing, that’s the hardest part of the year.
“If you can get through that, you’ll be grand. I think you have to decide in January whether you’re going to miss it or not and that’s my thinking on it anyway.
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