ANTRIM’S Eddie McCloskey has revealed he no longer has the passion to play inter-county hurling and has decided to take an indefinite break from the game.
The 28-year-old dropped the bombshell just before Christmas after completing six weeks of pre-season training with the county hurlers. Despite an impressive 2016 campaign with Loughgiel Shamrocks and Antrim, McCloskey said he felt “under-motivated” and reached the stage where he dreaded the prospect of matches and training sessions.
In a candid interview with The Irish News, the 2012 All-Ireland Club winner explained he’d lost his appetite for hurling after playing non-stop for the past six or seven years.
“I feel as if I needed a break. I’d a good season last year but I found it a long season, and that’s probably one of the reasons why I needed a break,” said McCloskey.
“It got to the stage last year it was becoming more of an inconvenience to me. You were going to training and thinking: ‘I hate the thought of this tonight’.
“Years gone by I never had that feeling; I looked forward to every training session. I just wanted to rekindle that enjoyment for the game which is kind of lost.”
He added: “It’s the first time in my hurling career that I didn’t look forward to games, whether that’s to do with being under-motivated, I don’t know.
“I was training right up until Christmas and I was just going through the motions. So there was no point prolonging it any longer. So I’ve decided to take a break. There’s no point in saying to the management team: ‘Can I have two or three weeks break?’ I don’t know how long I need, really.”
Given his excellent form last season, his versatility and nine years of inter-county experience, McCloskey’s absence will come as a hammer-blow to Antrim’s management team.
Saul McCaughan of Ballycastle is another notable absentee as the livewire attacker is pursuing a soccer career in the Irish League. However, the loss of McCloskey and McCaughan has been offset by the return of Neil McManus and Paul ‘Shorty’ Shiels - arguably the two best hurlers in the county.
McManus is back in harness after a year travelling while Shiels is back training with the Saffrons again after hip surgery ruled him out of contention last season.
McCloskey graduated to the Antrim seniors as a 19-year-old and has been a regular fixture ever since: “It’s become an all-year-round thing now, between club and county. For three or four years running, I don’t think I got a week or two-week break," he added.
“But again, I enjoyed it. I was younger and had no responsibilities that would tie me down. Over the last few years, it’s gone from two nights a week, to three nights a week and you’re strength-and-conditioning on top of that.
“There is definitely a higher commitment level required now. That’s probably one of the reasons why I need a break and it’s wearing me down. I just lost the enjoyment and the motivation to go.”
McCloskey plays junior soccer for Ballybogey in the Coleraine & District Saturday morning league - but firmly rejected the notion he was stepping away from hurling to concentrate on playing soccer.
“That’s not the reason why I’m not going back to the county,” McCloskey said.
And although Loughgiel’s Ulster Club final defeat to Derry champions Slaughtneil was a bitter pill to swallow, McCloskey was already considering taking a break.
“It was like any defeat. It was tough to take. You were sick that week but as time goes on you get over it. But I knew before the Slaughtneil match," he said.
He added: “I’ve big respect for Terence mcNaughton and Dominic McKinley but I didn’t want to go in with less than 100 per cent. I rang Woody and said: ‘There is no point in me going through the motions and pulling out during the season. It’s better to do it now.’
“The training has been first class. It’s more to do with me and this point in my career. I need to be selfish. I wasn’t fully committed so there was no point in being there.”
