Post by kerrygold on Oct 17, 2013 8:29:56 GMT
Walsh fights to stay on top Down Under
Thursday, October 17, 2013
He’s talking like an old pro now.
By JP McCarthy
The novelty is gone, he knows that. Tommy Walsh is entering the last year of his contract. He’s not the young lad from Tralee off on an adventure Down Under anymore. That was four years ago. Now he’s fighting for a place at the Sydney Swans.
The next 12 months will define whether he continues with this career. He loves everything about the Swans, but he’s recovering from a horrendous hamstring injury, turns 26 next February and his contract is up at the end of the 2014 season.
The inevitable question arises. If Sydney say thanks for everything but there’s no new deal, what then?
“As of now I’ll be coming home,” is the instant response, “and I’d be okay with that. I’ll probably make my mind up in the middle of next year, depending on what the Swans do.”
He’s proud to be called a Sydney Swans player, part of the ‘Bloods’ tradition with a strong team bond, but Tommy Walsh is also of Kerry blood.
“I could go out and play every game next year and still decide that it is time for me to come home. There’s still a lot of things I want to do with Kerry and Kerins O’Rahillys.”
That Kerry blood was enriched as a boy surrounded by his heroes.
“I grew up around my father [Seán], Ogie Moran, the Bomber Liston. I grew up with my idols. I grew up listening to the stories. That’s still in me. It never leaves me. I love Kerry football, I love my club and I love the game. That will never go. That will always drive me to want to come back.”
He has changed for the better. His 6ft 4ins frame is now at 15 stone — when he scored 0-4 in the 2009 All-Ireland final his match weight was 16 stone. A month later and he was drafted by Melbourne’s St Kilda. The running game of AFL has streamlined his “tree trunk thighs” and he is more of an athlete now. His career path has also moulded him into a more confident person.
“I’ve changed a lot. I’ve lived in two great cities for four years and it’s opened my eyes so much. I was just sitting with my brother [Barry John] last night and he was saying how much he would have loved to have done something like that. If I go back and never play for the Swans again it will still be one of the best experiences I ever had.”
Part of Walsh’s 2014 dilemma in Sydney is that the Swans, in the last two seasons, have acquired two of the best forwards in AFL: Kurt Tippett and, just last week, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, an superstar who won the grand final with Hawthorn at the end of September and is part of the Aussie International Rules side.
Walsh — who wears the Swans No 17 jersey vacated by Tadhg Kennelly — knows he has dropped down the pecking order but sees it as a challenge.
“Look, they are both great players and if any club had the ability to get them, like we did, then you couldn’t blame them for getting them. That’s the reality of professional sport.
“I do remember last year sitting at home when the Swans signed Tippett and saying, ‘Jesus, how am I going to get on?’ But, as it turned out, there was a host of injuries and it looked like I was about to get going, but then I got that injury.”
Yes, there’s ‘that injury’. Another hurdle. It happened at the SCG, the Swans’ home turf, on June 1. In the first minute of the second quarter against Essendon Walsh stretched for a mark when something snapped — well, quite a lot snapped.
“Well, there’s three tendons that attach the hamstring to your hip bone. I tore two of them off the bone and ruptured the third in half. I was on crutches for three weeks. I couldn’t do anything for six weeks but muscle deteriorates so I had to basically teach my leg how to walk again.”
It’s Budget Day. We sit in his family home in Clogherbrien, just a mile outside Tralee, on the road to Fenit. His mother Bernadette has made the tea. Tea means more talk, not of budget cuts but of GAA. He has been outside the goldfish bowl looking in since 2009. What would he do to improve the sport he grew up loving?
“You could really try and improve the refereeing system and use two referees. You look at this International Rules Series, the same number of players but two referees. I can’t understand how you can expect one man to watch the play. Watch the ball. Watch what is happening after the play, and what happens before the ball gets there. How is he supposed to see all that?”
He also laments GAA Congress’ decision to dismiss the idea of a 30m penalty for holding up play and believes they could learn a lot from Aussie Rules.
“If I commit a foul in Australian Rules and I have the ball, if I don’t give the ball straight to my opponent it’s a 50m penalty against me.”
The International Rules Series is in town but Walsh is ‘baffled’ by its lack of coverage. He shares a house in Paddington, with Swans team-mate Tony Armstrong, who is part of this unique Aboriginal side.
“I think its great for the guys coming over as they can represent the Aboriginal people and culture. The AFL have gone with something different and I think it is going to work,” said Walsh.
Whatever the result he flies back to Sydney for pre-season in a fortnight knowing 2014 is make or break.
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
Thursday, October 17, 2013
He’s talking like an old pro now.
By JP McCarthy
The novelty is gone, he knows that. Tommy Walsh is entering the last year of his contract. He’s not the young lad from Tralee off on an adventure Down Under anymore. That was four years ago. Now he’s fighting for a place at the Sydney Swans.
The next 12 months will define whether he continues with this career. He loves everything about the Swans, but he’s recovering from a horrendous hamstring injury, turns 26 next February and his contract is up at the end of the 2014 season.
The inevitable question arises. If Sydney say thanks for everything but there’s no new deal, what then?
“As of now I’ll be coming home,” is the instant response, “and I’d be okay with that. I’ll probably make my mind up in the middle of next year, depending on what the Swans do.”
He’s proud to be called a Sydney Swans player, part of the ‘Bloods’ tradition with a strong team bond, but Tommy Walsh is also of Kerry blood.
“I could go out and play every game next year and still decide that it is time for me to come home. There’s still a lot of things I want to do with Kerry and Kerins O’Rahillys.”
That Kerry blood was enriched as a boy surrounded by his heroes.
“I grew up around my father [Seán], Ogie Moran, the Bomber Liston. I grew up with my idols. I grew up listening to the stories. That’s still in me. It never leaves me. I love Kerry football, I love my club and I love the game. That will never go. That will always drive me to want to come back.”
He has changed for the better. His 6ft 4ins frame is now at 15 stone — when he scored 0-4 in the 2009 All-Ireland final his match weight was 16 stone. A month later and he was drafted by Melbourne’s St Kilda. The running game of AFL has streamlined his “tree trunk thighs” and he is more of an athlete now. His career path has also moulded him into a more confident person.
“I’ve changed a lot. I’ve lived in two great cities for four years and it’s opened my eyes so much. I was just sitting with my brother [Barry John] last night and he was saying how much he would have loved to have done something like that. If I go back and never play for the Swans again it will still be one of the best experiences I ever had.”
Part of Walsh’s 2014 dilemma in Sydney is that the Swans, in the last two seasons, have acquired two of the best forwards in AFL: Kurt Tippett and, just last week, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, an superstar who won the grand final with Hawthorn at the end of September and is part of the Aussie International Rules side.
Walsh — who wears the Swans No 17 jersey vacated by Tadhg Kennelly — knows he has dropped down the pecking order but sees it as a challenge.
“Look, they are both great players and if any club had the ability to get them, like we did, then you couldn’t blame them for getting them. That’s the reality of professional sport.
“I do remember last year sitting at home when the Swans signed Tippett and saying, ‘Jesus, how am I going to get on?’ But, as it turned out, there was a host of injuries and it looked like I was about to get going, but then I got that injury.”
Yes, there’s ‘that injury’. Another hurdle. It happened at the SCG, the Swans’ home turf, on June 1. In the first minute of the second quarter against Essendon Walsh stretched for a mark when something snapped — well, quite a lot snapped.
“Well, there’s three tendons that attach the hamstring to your hip bone. I tore two of them off the bone and ruptured the third in half. I was on crutches for three weeks. I couldn’t do anything for six weeks but muscle deteriorates so I had to basically teach my leg how to walk again.”
It’s Budget Day. We sit in his family home in Clogherbrien, just a mile outside Tralee, on the road to Fenit. His mother Bernadette has made the tea. Tea means more talk, not of budget cuts but of GAA. He has been outside the goldfish bowl looking in since 2009. What would he do to improve the sport he grew up loving?
“You could really try and improve the refereeing system and use two referees. You look at this International Rules Series, the same number of players but two referees. I can’t understand how you can expect one man to watch the play. Watch the ball. Watch what is happening after the play, and what happens before the ball gets there. How is he supposed to see all that?”
He also laments GAA Congress’ decision to dismiss the idea of a 30m penalty for holding up play and believes they could learn a lot from Aussie Rules.
“If I commit a foul in Australian Rules and I have the ball, if I don’t give the ball straight to my opponent it’s a 50m penalty against me.”
The International Rules Series is in town but Walsh is ‘baffled’ by its lack of coverage. He shares a house in Paddington, with Swans team-mate Tony Armstrong, who is part of this unique Aboriginal side.
“I think its great for the guys coming over as they can represent the Aboriginal people and culture. The AFL have gone with something different and I think it is going to work,” said Walsh.
Whatever the result he flies back to Sydney for pre-season in a fortnight knowing 2014 is make or break.
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
