Dónal Óg Cusack has cleared up what he views as misconceptions about his retirement from intercounty hurling, writes Seán Moran.

Last month Cork manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy revealed that the 35-year old All-Ireland medallist and former All Star goalkeeper would not be part of this season’s league panel.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s John Murray programme yesterday morning, Cusack described how events had unfolded. “I met Jimmy on a Tuesday morning. He sat into my car because I was actually coming from work and had to get back there. He said he wanted to have a chat with me and there were two things that came out of that conversation that were reported in the media.

“One was this was just for the league or a temporary removal. There wasn’t anyone that told me that and Jimmy certainly didn’t put that to me. The second one was that I reacted badly and angrily in the conversation.

“That wasn’t the case, that wasn’t the way it was and it was one of those things that when you see it in the media and so many people reporting on those two aspects, you are just wondering where are those two things coming from.

“It was a conversation between two men and there wasn’t any anger shown in the conversation.

“It was just very matter of fact and that was it. Playing for Cork was a big part of my life. Athletes and sports people, it’s an athletic identity that they have. You identify yourself through your sport. Through my work in the Gaelic Players Association, it’s a thing I’d be very conscious of and have seen it in other players.

“This league panel was the first league squad since 1996 that I wasn’t involved in. That is a change in your life. I like to look back on the positive things. I made great friends, great memories, the game taught me a lot, playing inter-county taught me a lot. It taught me about health and even around the areas of mental resilience if you like.”