‘I’m more devastated for Paul on a personal level’ – Cunningham praises Mannion’s leadership after double injury blow

Kilmacud Crokes are down one star forward but they’ve gained another.

Having picked up an ankle injury in the latter stages of their Dublin SFC quarter final victory over Cuala last month, Paul Mannion is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of their club campaign, however long that lasts.

It’s a crushing and a terribly unfortunate blow for Mannion, who has had two separate surgeries in this calendar year. He first went under the knife back in January, having suffered a knee injury in last season’s Leinster semi-final win over Portarlington and this time around, in a similarly untimely blow, his ankle required repair.

Knee surgery kept him out all the way up to his club’s All-Ireland final loss to Kilcoo in February but speaking ahead of this Sunday’s Go-Ahead Dublin senior football final against Na Fianna, Mannion’s team-mate Shane Cunningham talked about the influence he’s had on the team off the field.

Cunningham will never forget Mannion’s words of encouragement after that loss to the Down champions.

“He’s always been a leader,” says Cunningham, “but even last year, I saw a different side to him in terms of what he was adding in the dressing room.

“He spoke unbelievably at times, and in particular after we lost (to Kilcoo), he had a few words in the dressing room that will definitely stick with me and he’s injured again, he’s doing the same again.

“Whatever he says, people listen to.”

It goes without saying that Mannion is a huge loss for the team but more importantly, as no-one likes to miss out on such big games, Cunningham just feels for his team-mate on a personal level.

“He’s obviously a massive loss for us but I’m nearly more devastated for Paul on a personal level because obviously he got injured last year too.

“I think he was determined to make amends for that so for him be ruled out for the rest of the campaign is devastating so I do feel really sorry for him and then obviously from a team perspective, he’s one of the stand-out players and leaders so to miss him will be a big blow.

“But look we coped well without him last year so hopefully we can do the same again.”

Time will tell if they can but the addition of Galway star Shane Walsh will certainly help. There’s been a lot of talk about his transfer from Kilkerrin-Clonberne in the last few months but that’s died down recently. And Cunningham has been hugely impressed by the effort Walsh is making around the club, having already ‘volunteered his time with teams.’

“When we first heard he was joining, I was excited that he was joining. Naturally enough when there was talk Shane Walsh was joining Kilmacud Crokes, a big South Dublin club, there was always going to be mud thrown in that regard.

“So we jut ignored it. We know ourselves that he is just extremely motivated to play football. The first time I met him, within about 10 minutes of speaking to him, I could tell he was GAA-mad. I think his main determination is to play football at the best level he can. So we just ignored all the noise that came with us, and embraced the fact that Shane Walsh was training with us. He’s a phenomenal player.”

“In fairness to him, he’s settled in brilliantly. We’re a tight group off the pitch. We socialise a lot with each other off the pitch, and he’s made a massive effort in that regard.

“He’s really made an effort with us, getting to know us, and around the club as well, he has volunteered his time with teams to get to know people throughout the whole club as well. He was out supporting the ladies footballers a good few nights during their championship, so he’s making a massive effort to get to know everyone. I can’t fault him at all.”

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