It says much about the influence of Michael Murphy that, at 33 and 16 seasons deep in his Donegal career, news of his retirement this week came as a shock to just about everybody.
True, he hasn’t had it all his own way over the past couple of seasons but there was little doubt that he still had plenty to offer for another couple of seasons anyway and, despite his advancing years, is the player that new manager Paddy Carr could least afford to lose.
It was moot as to whether Carr had a rebuilding project to embark on as he took over from Declan Bonner, but Murphy leaves such a gaping hole that he may be forced into one now.
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For the most part, Donegal wrung every last drop from the key men on the 2012 All-Ireland winning team that Murphy captained.
Neil Gallagher was spent by the time he retired after the 2016 Championship, similarly with Karl Lacey the following year and Frank McGlynn the year after that. Neil McGee only stepped back recently just short of his 37th birthday after enduring numerous injury problems over the past couple of seasons.
As 2012 team’s powers waned, a batch from the minors that reached the 2014 All-Ireland final came on board to help keep Donegal at a reasonably high level and players like Michael Langan, Peadar Mogan and Eoghan Ban Gallagher have taken up the baton to vary degrees in recent years, so there remains decent material for Carr to work with.
Added to that, Donegal have been competitive at underage level in recent years and have an impressive training facility in Convoy, so a return to the barren era pre-Jim McGuinness is certainly avoidable, even without Murphy.
But their prospects would be so much brighter with him still on board, if even for only another couple of years.
Generational players like him, by their very nature, are exceptionally difficult to replace.
