Friday, June 04, 2010
TOMMY WALSH has not ruled out returning to play for Kerry and Kerins O’Rahilly’s in the future.
The man of the match as the Kingdom beat Cork in last year’s All-Ireland final will be listening to the latest renewal of the old rivalry in Killarney on Radio Kerry via the internet.
It will be the early hours of Monday morning but despite the fact he is now chasing a different dream, Walsh will always be tuned into the green and gold.
The Strand Road man admits that winning that All-Ireland has given him a greater ease of mind about pursuing a career in professional sport and he will never be tormented in the way last year’s Kerry team-mate Tadhg Kennelly, was about getting his hands on a treasured Celtic Cross.
But if even if Cork had been triumphant in September, he was headed for Australia.
"It was a massive ambition to win an All-Ireland and if we hadn’t done it, it would be something I’d want to go back and do," he said yesterday. "So winning it made it easier to come over here.
"But it was just too big an opportunity to turn down. Ten years down the line I didn’t want to be thinking ‘Why didn’t I?’ I suppose I didn’t want to die wondering. There is less pressure because it’s one less thing to go home for.
"That’s not to say that I don’t want to go home and play Gaelic football in the future. There is still a lot I want to achieve with my club and county so I’m definitely not closing the door on that."
The 22-year-old has turned his back on potential greatness in Gaelic football but is not impatient about reaching the heights and insists that he never expected to make a quick debut in the AFL, a feat managed by other Irish imports Colm Begley, Martin Clarke and Michael Quinn.
Of course the fact that Kennelly made a return trip Down Under and is an old hand when it comes to breaking into the AFL was a major factor, as the Sydney Swans defender has offered plenty of advice.
"It takes time to develop, to get to know the game. I won’t be playing until I’ve done that and I’m ready. That’s one of the first things Tadhg said to me, not to expect to play too quickly. St Kilda have such a strong squad.
"Breaking into the seniors is a slow process. I just want to develop and learn and play consistently enough to get into their selection plans. That’s my aim."
That process is taking place on the training pitch, and in games for the Saints’ reserves team, Sandringham, for whom he plays along the half-back line.
His signing generated massive publicity, not just in Ireland but also in Australia, where Walsh’s reputation as one of the brightest young stars of football had gone before him.
His athleticism and raw strength earned rave reviews and it was predicted that he would make an appearance in the pre-season NAB Cup but it didn’t happen, as he wrestles with learning the intricacies of Aussie Rules while attaining the required fitness levels.
"There was always going to be hype because I’ve gone from All-Ireland to AFL. Because of the hype people want to see you play straight away. They want to see what you can do, see if you can play. A lot of the young guys are under pressure to put on weight so they can cope with the physical demands. But I’ve always been big so that’s an advantage. I’ve actually lost weight since I’ve got here. In the first few weeks I lost five kg. When I arrived I was 102 kilos, now I’m about 96.
"Players out here really are elite athletes because the game goes so much longer. I’m still not there yet. Sometimes I sit there at half time and think, ‘If I was at home and this was Gaelic football, the game would be over by now’."
This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, June 04, 2010
tommy walsh interview in irish examiner
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