Tom O'Sullivan has revealed how Kerry manager Jack O'Connor made a last-ditch attempt to talk him out of retirement.

The 33-year-old Rathmore clubman brought the curtain down on his glittering inter-county career last week, but only after O'Connor tried to persuade him to stay on for another championship campaign.

"I was talking to Jack late last week. He was asking if there was any way that he could twist my arm. But I said it was the finish, there would be no twisting the arm this year. He probably twisted my arm for the last three years," the five-time All-Ireland winner explained to The Irish Examiner.

"Jack felt it would take me only three weeks to get fit if I put my mind to it. I agreed. But the hunger just wasn't there. I told him it was time to call it a day. I have enough given, and it's time to let the young lads step up now."

The long-serving corner back - whose last game for the Kingdom was last September's All-Ireland final - says he had his mind made up to retire some time ago.

"I always said 2011 was going to be my last year. It would have been nice to go out on a high but it wasn't meant to be. I found it difficult last year to get back into training. I went back later than in most years, the older you get the harder it gets. The older you get you should be going back to training even earlier, not later," he continued.

"It (retiring) wasn't a difficult decision. I just felt I have enough of it played. I was inside with the Kerry seniors back in '98, training with them in '99 and I made the team then in 2000, and I am playing since then.

"I couldn't look back on my career and say that I have any regrets because I don't. I probably won everything that the game has to offer. I was very lucky in the sense. That's why walking away was easy for me. It's time to move on." Tweet

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