Kieran Donaghy may have hung up Kerry boots but he’ll be lining out this weekend

The Star was never a big man for the winter training anyway, but he definitely won't be showing his face around the Kerry camp this January.

Kieran Donaghy had a bit of a routine going for the last few years. He'd focus on basketball in the winter months and he'd only join up with the Kerry panel when the League began to hot up. He'd always hit the ground running when he came in though, and that's why managers like Eamon Fitzmaurice gave him the freedom to to pursue his other passion. And by God, when you hear Kieran Donaghy talking about basketball, that's passion. The 35-year-old joined Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour Show recently and when Wooly tried to push Donaghy on whether he'd be coming back for more with Kerry next year, Donaghy wasn't so sure about it. When asked about basketball, the man was unflinching.

"Oh yeah, I'll be playing the basketball next year," beamed the Tralee Warriors player. "I'll be playing basketball anyway, I'll be training with Stacks, and then I'll get down to the odd basketball session afterwards because they're starting the pre-season now," he said.

Donaghy has always been an advocate of the benefits playing basketball has for a Gaelic footballer and his career is a testament to that. The pre-season is in full swing now and the Warriors are playing in a pre-season tournament in Dublin this Saturday. Kieran Donaghy will be in the thick of of it all. He'll be lining out in Templeogue basketball club's international pre-season tournament in Oblate Hall, Inchicore this weekend. The club sent us on the match programme for the weekend's events and Donaghy's name takes pride of place at number 10. Templeogue will be joined by British Basketball League Cup Champs Cheshire Phoenix, Killester, DCU Saints and Belfast Star for the weekend's tournament. You can't keep a good man down for long.