Former Monaghan manager Vinny Corey has paid tribute to the brilliance of Conor McManus after the ace forward announced his inter-county retirement on Friday.
The pair battled together both at county level and also with Clontibret, and for Corey, the Oriel County has lost one of their greatest players ever.
"It feels like the end of an era," Corey, who won Ulster titles on the pitch with McManus in 2013 and '15, told RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
"Conor McManus has been an institution for Monaghan for the best part of 20 years.
"I think it’s also a time of celebration, celebrating one of our all-time greats."
Hip issues ultimately hampered McManus' participation in recent seasons, but Corey provided an insight into the durability of a player he said "could play in every line on the field" and pointed out that he played corner-back for the Monaghan Under-20s.
"When ‘Mansy’ was coming up through the ranks in Clontibret he was a very skilful; player," Corey said of the three-time All-Star.
"His father Frank was the secretary of the club and Frank would always be down at the senior trainings and Conor would be there as well as a very young lad kicking the ball back out to the seniors. He was always about the club.
"We could see he was a very skilful player but he had a very slight build. When he first came on playing for Clontibret in 2005, 2006....in 2006 he played for the C team, the B team and the senior team, played all the games that year and never missed a game.
"We won a senior championship that year and he was wing-half forward and kicked a decisive goal in that game.
"In his early years for Clontibret he was playing between half-forward and half-back. In the Ulster Club in 2006 he was man-marking Oisín McConville for Crossmaglen and did a hell of a job.
"When he came onto the county panel in 2007 - ‘Banty’ (Séamus McEnaney) was manager - he would have been coming on around half-forward, half-back and was very, very effective in that role.
"As he got a bit older, I haven’t seen a player progress and develop as quickly as ‘Mansy’ did."
While McManus’ availability for Monaghan’s league opener against Cavan this Saturday was always unlikely, new boss Gabriel Bannigan will now not be able to call on his expertise at the business end of the season.
For Corey, the decision wouldn’t have come lightly and he said that McManus tried everything in his power to be available for the 2025 season.
"It’s a pity he couldn't Sellotape his hips together, if he could, he would knowing the man.
"Especially with the new rules coming in, a Conor McManus in his pomp would revel in those new rules.
"The fact that he has left it so long sort of gives you another insight into the character of the man. He gave it every chance he could.
"I was chatting to him on and off this last number of months and he was trying different things and going to different physios and left it to the very end to make up his mind."
