Joe Higgins has confirmed his retirement from inter-county football following his appointment as Laois' new ladies football manager last week. The 2003 All-Star corner back, who represented his country in the International Rules series, had retired from inter-county football before, only to be coaxed back. But this time it's for definite. The 30-year-old said the prospect of needing a hip replacement before he was 40 if he continued playing was the biggest factor in his decision. However, he hopes to line out for his club St. Joseph's for one more year at least. Admitting that the past few years had been difficult for him, the 2003 Leinster SFC medallist told the Leinster Express: "Corner back was my position and my game was all about pace. "I didn't like admitting it at the time, but I did lose a yard or two of pace and that made it a lot more difficult. County football is all about pace now and if you're struggling there, you're going to be in trouble. "I had a groin operation last year in the sports clinic in Santry and Dr Eanna Falvey there diagnosed me with arthritis in my hips and if I kept playing I'd need replacements in a couple of years. Obviously I'm going to have to have that work done at some stage but I'd like to put it off for as long as possible and my best chance of doing that is to stop playing." Higgins says he is looking forward to the challenge of managing the Laois ladies in 2010 after replacing Brendan Hayden in the role. "I had always considered getting into management and although it's probably a bit sooner than I thought, I'm looking forward to giving it all I can." Tweet

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