Even after a career best season, Galway's Paul Conroy had doubts about return

The Footballer of the Year nominee says Galway manager Pádraic Joyce "would never pull you up for having a go".

GOOD EXAMPLE: Paul Conroy wants to be the one young players look at and think ‘that is what it takes to be an intercounty player.’ Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

The season of his life came to an end with the toughest loss of his career. The game has an unerring ability to bring together such highs and lows. Paul Conroy walked off the field after the All-Ireland final, and a championship that would see him nominated for Footballer of the Year, without knowing if he would ever come back.

“The emotions of a final like that, the noise after, you are there but you are not there,” he recalls now.