Injuries have forced Meath full-back Kevin Reilly to retire at the age of just 29.
The Navan O'Mahony's man has been part of the Royals' set-up for the past eleven seasons, and was part of their 2010 Leinster title-winning side.
Reilly detailed the physical reasons which have forced him to retire at the young age of 29 in a statement.
"I feel compelled to explain my reasons for retiring at 29 years old. Some might say what should have been the prime of my career. Persistent and serious injury has led me to call time on my inter-county playing days.
"This one I just cannot come back from. Three surgeries, my back, hip and Achilles tendon, bulging discs, frequent hamstring, quad and hip flexor tears, broken arm, foot, nose, fingers and vertebrae, chronic tendonitis and cartilage damage in knees, shoulders and Achilles tendons have all taken their toll on my body, but it has been the hip injury I suffered in the Leinster final of 2014 that has brought my career to a premature end.
"About 15 mins into the game I felt a sharp pain in the hip after a change of direction. Immediately I knew there was something serious up. I carried on unable to change direction for the rest of the game. The next day I went for a scan for it to reveal the start of an ongoing nightmare. A grade 2 hip flexor tear – grand, a labral cartilage tear – not so good, and chronic degeneration of the hip joint – disaster!
"In the following weeks I met with two hip specialists who both agreed that my time playing inter-county football was coming to an end. The first guy asked ‘How long are you playing football?’ and then followed it up with “You won’t be playing for much longer”.
"I immediately requested a second opinion. They both recommended surgery to repair the injury as much as possible and confirmed that I will need a full hip replacement in the next 5-10 years. My world had been turned upside down and inside out all in the space of two minutes.
"Here I was, Meath captain at the time, facing the distinct possibility of never donning the green and gold again. Not to mention the impact it would have on my professional career as a PE teacher. I set out on a journey into the unknown. Facing the reality and the sensible choice of retirement, I had the surgery on the 3rd October last year, and following long consultations with the surgeon, Mick O’Dowd and the team physio, Barry Mc Entee, I had too many questions and ‘what ifs’ to hang up the boots at that stage so I set to work on my rehabilitation. I knew it wasn’t the right decision but I couldn’t let myself make that decision to quit without trying first.
"Over the course of the year, countless hours were put into rehab and we started making slow progress. Going from walking unaided, to jogging, sprinting, changing direction and then competing again took about eight months. Eight months of torture and far from pain free at the end. It took every ounce of mental and physical strength to be part of the Meath set up. I think I completed two full training sessions all year. The rest of the time was spent doing rehab on the sidelines as the rest trained away. Pain at every turn, not wanting to give in, wanting to give more of myself to the Meath GAA cause. If I was able to contribute anything to Meath GAA over the course of the year I wanted to be part of it.
"The realisation hit me come the end of the league going into championship time. In the past and I suppose I would have had a bit of a reputation for it, I would have missed parts of the league through injury but I would have always strived to be fit come championship. I never needed a whole lot of training to get back to full fitness. I kept myself very well.
"This time however, after putting in huge amounts of time, energy, blood, sweat and tears I knew I wasn’t near where I wanted to be in terms of rehabilitation or fitness. I played a game in Newry against Down towards the end of the league. I played at wing-forward as it was one of the only positions that allowed me to be on the pitch without over aggravating it through twisting and turning demands of other positions or so I thought, but at half time I had to come off and was barely able to walk to the bus afterwards.
"I spent the next two weeks hobbling around getting treatment only to start to feel a little better then the cycle would start again! That’s not good! Constant pain, worry, rehab, set back after setback, and the demands of inter-county football led me to the decision to hang up my boots. I knew that was that for me. I made a commitment to myself to see out the campaign and contribute where I could. I’d do anything to be fit and healthy to give more to the Meath cause just my body won’t let me."
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