Mark Griffin has announced that he's taking a break from the Kerry senior football panel in the coming year.
The St Michaels-Foilmore club man has told The Irish Examiner that a combination of work commitments and his intention to travel next year have brought him to the decision:
“The time and commitment involved, work being very busy and planning to do some traveling in the new year. Factors that led to me pulling away from it.”
29-year-old Griffin was a fringe member of the Kingdom squad which reached this year's All-Ireland Senior Football final and he admits it was a frustrating campaign on a personal level:
“I felt I didn’t have as much of an impact on the championship, when you weigh that against the other reasons I mentioned, you begin to wonder whether you can square those against the commitment you’re giving.
“The time required at inter-county level is phenomenal and definitely increasing these past couple of years.
"It’s actually unquantifiable how much time you put into it, because even when you are not at training, you are constantly looking after recovery, nutrition, and mentally preparing for the next session.
“I work with a German company, Enercon, as a project manager and that requires me to travel abroad now and then.
"But the day is gone where you can miss Kerry training if you’ve got something else on — even if it is work related.
“Ultimately when you miss training, you are the one who loses out. The excuse of ‘I’ve got work’ is gone.
"That doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s your own fault if you’re not at training. You are only letting yourself down then".
