Ronayne: door not closed on O'Shea

THE door is not closed – that’s the message from Cork boss Shane Ronayne to Erika O’Shea after her decision to step away from the panel.

The Macroom footballer was not involved with the Rebels as they knocked league champions Kerry back down to earth in the recent Munster final, and Ronayne has confirmed that the 2021 All-Star defender is not part of the group right now.

‘It was her decision to leave, we would like to have her involved,’ the Cork boss told The Southern Star.

The return of O’Shea, who played with North Melbourne in the AFLW in 2022, to the Cork set-up this year was seen as a real coup. In a recent Star Sport Podcast interview she spoke of her delight at being back involved: ‘Because I left last year halfway through the season, I didn’t get the full year out of it and I didn’t get to put my full potential into it, so I was so happy to come back, and the girls have been really welcoming and the management have been very good.’

In the round-robin stage of the Munster championship O’Shea played full games against both Tipperary and Kerry, but didn’t feature in the win against Waterford in Clonakilty last month.

O’Shea is set to link up again with North Melbourne in Oz, and was to travel after Cork’s interest in the championship was ended.