Vinny Corey: 'There is more in the tank in them boys, absolutely'

The Monaghan boss is in no rush to push his older Farney stars towards retirement.

REFLECTIONS: Monaghan manager Vinnie Corey after the game. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

As a man who soldiered in Monaghan colours until he was 36, Vinny Corey won’t be expecting too much more from his veterans that he didn’t offer himself when he sits down to talk to them about next year.

Retiring in 2019 after a 17-year inter-county career, the Monaghan manager hopes Darren Hughes (36), his Clontribret club-mate Conor McManus (36) and Karl O’Connell (35 next month) will decide to go once more into the breach in 2024.

McManus was emotional as he hugged his parents following the game but Corey was reluctant to think this was a goodbye for some of Monaghan’s golden generation. “You saw there today younger boys coming off tight – the older boys weren’t coming off at all. The Darren Hugheses, the Karl O’Connells, the Conor McManuses, they played the full 70-plus and some of them played against Armagh 70-plus and extra-time.

“I wouldn’t be rushing to judgements there. I think there is more in the tank in them boys, absolutely. If you’re playing a full 70 or 90-minute game this year, in another few months’ time you’re fit to do it again. Some of them boys have given a lot of service. It will be completely their decision but we’ll not be turning them away, that’s for sure.” 

Having kept him in reserve throughout the championship, Corey revealed he had decided to start McManus, who chipped in with five points, soon after the penalty shoot-out win against Armagh in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

“You look at the opposition you are playing and where you could be best used. I just felt he needed another game to come on and play well to get in from the start. The Armagh game was a 50-50 game, we had played them two years ago and when it came down to the clutch moments, Conor McManus was there.

“So I wanted him on the pitch at the end, that was the main thing. Once he was in that game and played the second half and the extra-time, you knew he was ready to start.” 

From the outside looking it, it would appear a rewarding season for Monaghan as they retained their Division 1 status and reached the last-four. Yet Corey always felt an All-Ireland semi-final was within their wheelhouse.

“We probably targeted it in the first meeting of the year. We assessed it and said there’s probably a good chance we would be in the All-Ireland semi-final. Just with the new structure there. You would be very unlucky to finish bottom of that group and be out of it. And once you are in it and building up a bit of momentum, you would have a good chance. It’s something we would have talked about or targeted.

“One measure of your year is silverware. We don’t have that. Obviously, another is how far you go in the championship. We made the last four. Plus, I suppose, from a player’s point of view, in the old system it was a long time, depending on how your year went, it could take maybe three years to get players up to eight championship games’ experience.

“So for some of our players to play, I mean that was our eighth championship game. It’s bound to prompt them a wee bit. Some players who are a young age have experience now of playing an All-Ireland semi-final that the older boys didn’t have when they were the same vintage. There’s positives there if you build on it."