‘Frustrated’ Shane Enright says his time with Kerry is up

A reduction in game-time over the last two seasons and a long-standing back injury are the principal reasons for the decision

Shane Enright: Calling it a day at inter-county level. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Shane Enright will today become the third member of the Kerry senior football panel to retire from inter-county activity in the space of a week.

Following the announcements of Legion duo Jonathan Lyne and Brian Kelly, the 32-year-old Tarbert defender will bring an end to a period of 15 years of distinguished service to the green and gold jersey since his minor debut in 2005.

A reduction in game-time over the last two seasons since Peter Keane’s appointment as Kingdom manager, plus a long-standing back injury, are the principal reasons for the decision of the 2015 All-Star corner-back to call it a day in advance of the new season.

After starting four of the opening five league games of 2020, the shutdown of all GAA action due to the Covid-19 pandemic last March proved to be the death knell to Enright’s prospects of retaining his place in the management’s preferred selection.

The 2014 All-Ireland medallist was left on the bench for the two league fixtures against Monaghan and Donegal on the resumption of the inter-county campaign in October, and the final straw was when he was also an unused sub during the shock Munster Championship semi-final defeat to Cork on November 8.

Walking off the field on that sodden day in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Enright fully realised there and then that his 10 years in the senior squad, since being brought into the fold by Jack O’Connor in 2011, were at an end.

Kerry's Shane Enright with Martin McMahon and Gordon Kelly of Clare during the 2016 Championship. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Greally

“I knew that was it. I could tell from the way the two previous league games had gone. Between those two games and the Cork game, about 25 or 26 fellas saw some game-time and I saw no game-time, so I knew straight away that it was probably time to go then,” he said.

“Peter (Keane) has his own men, the same as any manager, and I obviously wasn’t one of them, this year anyway. It was frustrating, and for that reason, I knew it was time to go. I was talking to Tommy Walsh on the way out and I said to him that that was probably it for me.

I knew my time was up, but I suppose every player has to end their time at some stage, I’ve had my 10 years, and the main thing for me was that I was able to look myself in the mirror and to be happy and content with my lot.

"I’ve given it everything over the last 10 years, that’s the main thing, and I can truly say that I did my best.”

The north Kerry defender, who became Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s go-to man-marker during his six years in charge, has also been suffering for several years with a niggling back problem.

“One thing I have struggled with, and I went for a scan five or six years ago, I have two or three bulging discs in my back, so I suppose that’s a bit of reasoning as well in not going back in with Kerry,” he admitted.

“What I find is that, the softer the ground and the colder the weather is, my back really stiffens up. So, this year, there is no break between league and Championship, so the hard slog, the hard training will probably be done in January and the first few weeks of February before the league starts.”

As well as being part of the All-Ireland final victory over Donegal in 2014, Enright won eight Munster senior titles, two National League medals, and was part of the Kerry team that won the county’s last All-Ireland U21 title in 2008.

It is believed the retirements of Enright, Lyne, and Kelly might not be the final departures from the Kerry panel in advance of the proposed return of inter-county training at the end of the month.

A couple of other prominent Kerry players are currently contemplating their futures at inter-county level.