Former Monaghan manager Vinny Corey has described Conor McManus as one of the county’s “all-time greats”.

The three-time All-Star winner announced his retirement from inter-county football on Friday night after 18 seasons with the Farney men, during which the Clontibret sharpshooter won two Ulster SFC titles and two National League crowns (Division 2 and 3).

Corey and McManus played alongside each other for both club and county for more than a decade and the former told RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport that McManus’s retirement has saw the Farney County losing one of its greatest ever players.

"It feels like the end of an era. Conor McManus has been an institution for Monaghan for the best part of 20 years," said Corey. 

"I think it’s also a time of celebration, celebrating one of our all-time greats."

He added: "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."

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