Mayo welcome Cora Staunton return as legend embarks on 23rd Championship campaign
It was announced on Monday that Staunton, 36, had signed a new deal with the Greater Western Sydney Giants that will see her return to play a second season with the Aussie Rules outfit.
The four-time All-Ireland winner will be linking up with the Sydney-based club in November. It has now also emerged that Staunton has recently returned to training with Peter Leahy’s Mayo senior panel, and was among the squad when they held a recent training camp on Clare Island.
The Carnacon star returned to Ireland from Australia in April after her maiden season in Sydney ended.
Staunton’s return is a huge boost to Mayo hopes of beating defending champions Galway in the upcoming Connacht SFC Final on Sunday, June 24.
Speaking after her return to Ireland last month, the 10-time All Star winner admitted that she was mulling over the decision of whether to commit to Mayo for another summer.
I have aspirations to go back to Australia again so I have to decide if going back to play county football again is the best thing for me and my body,” explained Staunton.
“I got on a plane to Australia the day after we won an All-Ireland club title last year so I’ve been playing and training constantly now for almost a year.”
Staunton made her senior championship debut for Mayo in 1996 when she was 14.
She has scored 59-483 for Mayo during her remarkable championship career, playing 67 matches in the competition.
Incredibly, she has never missed a championship game for Mayo since making her debut 22 years ago.
