'Couldn't be fitter': Anthony Cunningham dismisses cancer rumours

Many of Cunningham's former players reached out when they heard the rumour he was sick

Anthony Cunningham managed St Brigid's to January's All-Ireland senior club football final against St Brigid's. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Anthony Cunningham has dismissed rumours he has cancer. The former Galway hurling and Roscommon football manager said that he "couldn't be fitter" at the moment. 

The Galway man added that many of his former players reached out when they heard the rumour. 

"Quite a lot of them gave me a call, quick calls, saying 'Are you alright?' There was about a week there where it was constant," he told the BBC's The GAA Social podcast.

"There was some wild rumours there for the last three or four months that I had cancer and I was sick.

"Nothing (could be) further from the truth. It's a bit of a shock really when you hear that stuff. I don't know where it came from day one.

"I train and work out, trying to do as much as I can. I work in the university (TUS in Athlone) there in a research group. One of the pluses with the college is that there's an indoor running track and an outdoor running track within 50 metres of my desk. There's a gym, a lot of the county teams (use it) - it's a high performance gym. I love to work out at work at lunchtime or evening times.

"I would like to acknowledge all the concerned people that rang and contacted me to see was I OK. I was fine and perfect - couldn't be fitter. It happens from time to time that these wild rumours go out."

Cunningham managed St Brigid's to January's All-Ireland senior club football final, a game they lost to Dingle in extra-time. He stepped down as manager a fortnight after defeat and will "definitely" be taking a break from management. 

"I think the longer you're in the game, the whole game, the harder you take it," he said.

"You have only a finite time left or you're putting even extra work into it than we did five years ago or 10 years ago. It consumes you to some degree. You give up playing golf for the last year or you won't go on as many holidays as your better half asked you to go on. 

"You're driven. It's a game and if you love it, it's what you want to be at every day. So it is raw and it is always going to be there."