CATHAL McCarron says “burn-out” forced him to call time (for now at least) on his inter-county career with Tyrone.
The former Dromore clubman was making an “insane” round trip from his adopted home in Athy, county Kildare to training at Garvaghy and, in the end, he simply could not sustain up to six hours on the road three times a week.
The tenacious man-marker refused to rule out a comeback for the Red Hands next year but there is a real possibility that last year’s Super8 win over Roscommon could be his last in the famous red and white jersey he first wore in 2008, Tyrone's last Sam Maguire-winning year.
McCarron picked up a knee injury in that game which ruled him out of the rest of last year’s run to the All-Ireland final. He regained fitness and returned to training this year but didn’t feature in the team and, ultimately, the travelling became too much.
“I’ve been at it since 2008 so it (retirement) is taking a bit of getting used to but at the same time I’m enjoying not having the pressure of having to tramp up and down the road,” he said.
“Tuesday and Thursday nights and once at the weekend I was doing a serious road trip – it was taking me two hours and 45 minutes to get to training, one way, and three and-a-half hours if there was an accident. Then you were doing the training and heading home about quarter past nine and then hitting my house about midnight or sometimes half 12 depending on what we were doing.
“Then I was up the next morning for work at six or half-six… It took its toll. I’ve been doing it for three years but this year, for whatever reason, it was just unbearable and I didn’t look forward to doing the journey any more.
“I know boys who travel but I never heard anybody travelling as much as I was. It was insane.”
McCarron moved to Athy in 2017 and reluctantly transferred from his beloved St Dympna's to play his football closer to home last year. At 31, he still has several years left in him and intends to make the most of them.
“I loved playing for Tyrone and it’s a pity because I’m only 31 and I feel like I would have another two or three years left in me at inter-county level,” he said.
“I’ve been finding the travelling so hard and Mickey Harte would expect you to be there the two nights. At the start I just went to training and I never said much about it but the last year and with the injury it has all built up on me.
“I’ve missed a bit of collective training on the pitch with the boys and it has been hard trying to catch up and get game-time. I hadn’t played much and it definitely was going to be hard to get my place back. Weighing everything up, I just felt that it was the right time for me to go.
“Saying that, I’m still not at that age where you could say you’re finished (with Tyrone) but I won’t be back this year.”
No-one who watched the Kildare defence struggle to contain Donegal’s forwards in Ballyshannon a fortnight ago could deny that McCarron would be an asset to his adopted county. McCarron doubts that a switch to the Lilywhite jersey is a realistic possibility.
“At the minute I couldn’t see myself doing that,” he said.
“I suppose you never say never but to leave my own county to play for another one… I found it very hard to leave Dromore, which was a three and-a-half hour drive for training.
“It’s hard to know what the future holds but I’ll enjoy the next couple of months working, enjoying my work and club football.”
