Marc O Se admits retirement did cross his mind following the All-Ireland final victory over Donegal - but the lure of the Kerry jersey proved too strong.

In an interview in today's Irish Independent, the 34-year-old, who is currently recovering from a fractured coccyx sustained after slipping on a wet stairs, said: "If I'm honest, I could feel the hunger go for a while when I got this injury.

"I remember thinking to myself 'What am I going to do with myself now?' Playing for Kerry is a way of life to me. Has been since I went in making up the numbers for Paidi in 2000, a great, great experience marking the likes of Mike Frank Russell who won an Allstar that year.

"From that year on, you could say I've always been involved with Kerry. You train your body for it. Your whole life is shaped around it and I honestly don't know what I can do after football. Golf and all these things are options but, at the moment, I just couldn't see myself away from the team.

"It defines who I am nearly."

That is why being dropped for the All-Ireland SFC semi-final replay against Mayo in Limerick was a bitter pill to swallow for the five-time All-Ireland winner.

"I was taken aback really," he recalled. "I said to him 'Look Eamonn, I disagree with this decision.' I thought I did a lot of good things in the drawn game. I felt it was kind of un-warranted.

"To be fair to him, he was saying 'We might well be getting this wrong but as a management we've decided to do this..' There's nothing you can do then. Ultimately you're just a team-member, you're not above it. And you've to act accordingly.

"My brother, Tomas, made number five his own for years, but he went last year. Then the jersey was taken by Paul Murphy who gets Man of the Match in the All-Ireland final!

"Playing with Kerry, you're only passing through."

The prospect of, once again, lining out alongside the Gooch and Tommy Walsh in 2015 is also an enticing prospect for O Se.

"I don't want to let go. I hope I'm not being a bit blind, but I don't think I am. I think there's definitely more left in the tank. I certainly don't see myself having any God-given right to be on the team next year, but that's my intention. To be on it.

"It's very hard to walk away, especially with the likes of Gooch and Tommy (Walsh) coming back. Sure it's like you've two new signings there straight away, even two potential 'Footballers of the Year'.

"Then you've Darran (O'Sullivan) who just didn't get a free run at it this year and you've the young lads who now have the confidence of winning. I did think about walking away from it, I suppose especially with the year that I had. On one level, it might have been the perfect way to sign off.

"But I couldn't do it. I still feel I have the hunger. I might be on the team next year, I mightn't be. But I'm not going back in to make up numbers."

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