Play until you drop Brian

I was glad to read that Birr’s Brian Whelehan said that he won’t rush into a decision to retire.
My advice to Whelehan is to play on as long as he can, why not after all he is still enjoying it and played in another All-Ireland after winning Offaly and Leinster titles again.
He is not the force he once was but after all none of us were when we hit 37. However, the key to his decision must be about his enjoyment of the game, if he still enjoys pulling on the boots he should continue to do so and if he is still good enough to play senior hurling then he should go for it.
I retired from football at 37 to manage my club team, spent two years on the line watching players who couldn’t do the things I could still do before coming back out of retirement at 39 and playing on until I was 44. Then I really was done shipping hits I could see coming and feeling the pains until mid week and to be honest I was playing from memory.
However, despite being involved still with club teams as a mentor, nothing beats the thrill of playing and being able to change the course of a game on the field.
I tell all our older players to enjoy it as long as they can and that if thy have the fitness and desire to compete to continue doing so as there does come a time when you simply can’t do it any more.
I wonder still could I turn out at South Antrim level just for the fun of it! What’s another year as the man said.