Ronan O'Neill says he doesn't feel like he won an All-Ireland title with Tyrone

Ronan O'Neill was on the field celebrating with his team-mates after Tyrone's stunning All-Ireland final win over Mayo last September.

The Omagh man had toiled with the rest of the Red Hands panel throughout the year, but missed out on the matchday panel for the decider. That was in spite of his appearance off the bench in the Ulster final win over Monaghan, and being included in the 26-strong squad for the Kerry victory.

Although he cherished the win on the day, O'Neill does not consider himself an All-Ireland champion. His intercounty retirement followed in the months afterwards.

"It is a career highlight but if I was to say to you that did I think I won an All-Ireland? I would say probably not, no," he said.

"You put your life on hold, you make so many sacrifices, you want to play at the end of the day and I got just a half against Kerry down in Killarney in a league semi-final, and I got 10-15 minutes against Monaghan in the Ulster final so it is just my personality but I just don't feel that I warranted enough to say I did enough to win an All-Ireland medal in my own head.

"People congratulating you and stuff, part of me was saying I did not win that, it had nothing to do with me.

"That was my own personal feeling towards it, just because I felt I did not contribute enough on the pitch as a person as I feel I should have contributed. Obviously, maybe my team-mates and other people will say the impact I played behind the scenes or on the training pitch [helped] Tyrone win the All-Ireland.

"As a career overall, over 10 years, of course it is [the highlight]. It is an All-Ireland, it is what everybody strives for. If you asked me for the past year, no, but over the 10 years it definitely would be."

O'Neill is one of seven players who left the panel since the All-Ireland triumph, sparking speculation given the high rate of departures.

• Watch Fermanagh vs Tyrone live on Sky Sports Arena on Saturday
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However, he is keen to underline that it was merely his planned retirement, rather than him growing disillusioned with the set-up.

"I suppose everyone has different reasons for leaving; mine was that I had come to the end of my career after 10 years. I did not leave, I retired and I just want to get that point across," he added.

"I did not leave because of discontent or anything like that, I retired.

"I want to give five or six good years to Omagh, I am moving house in the next couple of months and I am getting married at the end of the year. My life is moving on, and life does move on and you have to go with it too as well and I have been with Tyrone a long time."

Departures a 'scapegoat' for Tyrone's early struggles?

O'Neill feels that the impact of the departures was overplayed following Tyrone's slow start to the National League.

"I asked the boys [who left the panel] too, I would be quite friendly with all of them and they all had different reasons. I think the fact that Tyrone have not been going that well in the league, this was put on them that this was the reason because these boys were away but there is still a core of very good players there and the majority of players are there from the All-Ireland final last year," he said.

"I think it maybe is being made out to be a bit of a scapegoat for Tyrone's performances in the league. I don't think it is the reason why Tyrone have not been performing so well in the league but they did come good towards the end. Each person has their own reason for leaving and you have to respect that decision."

He feels the Red Hands are still well primed as they prepare for the defence of their Ulster and All-Ireland titles.

"They still have 16 or 17 of the players that were constantly playing last year that won an All-Ireland, and those boys have another year under their belt," he noted.

"They got through a league campaign where people thought it was quite poor by their own standards, but they still ended up with the same points as Armagh, who people thought had a great league campaign. So you have to take that into context.

"I do think they'll definitely reach an All-Ireland semi-final, All-Ireland final. It will take a damn good team to beat them. Players have got another year under their belt, they're playing with more confidence, once they get into the swing of things of playing with each other in championship football.

"Championship is a different ball game to league football. It will definitely take a good team to beat them."

Sky Sports' live GAA coverage gets underway on Saturday, April 16, with exclusive coverage of Wexford vs Galway in the Leinster Hurling Championship, followed by Fermanagh vs Tyrone in the Ulster Football Championship.