Speculation has arisen regarding several Dublin players potentially leaving the team after securing yet another All-Ireland medal. Mannion, who has already secured seven All-Ireland titles while playing for Dublin, opened up about his reasons for returning to the team. He explained that Dessie Farrell's faith in him during his younger years was a significant factor in his comeback.
“My own personal motivation was just to give back to the players on the team and to a manager who had been there – Dessie was the minor manager for me," said the 30-year-old upon receiving the PWC GAA/GPA Player of the Month award for this year’s final.
Paul Mannion, intends to play on with Dublin (Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)“I probably owe him a lot for keeping me playing Gaelic football and steering me away from soccer. So I felt personally indebted to a lot of people in the room, and I just wanted to come back to contribute in any way I can, I guess.”
The Kilmacud Crokes man also clarified that there were no hard feelings between him and Farrell when Mannion initially decided to step away from the Dublin senior panel. “It never went over the top, put it that way. When I left, he wished me all the best," he added.
“He never was kind of spiteful or annoyed in any major way; he understood the reasons, and he wished me the best. He told me that the door would always be open... he was always true to his word, just very cordial and understanding, and I appreciated that too.
“That made it a lot easier as well to say it to him at the end of last year, ‘Yeah, look, I want to come back and give it another go if you’ll have me’.”
