KILKENNY STAR TOMMY Walsh has admitted that he is finding it difficult to adjust to a September in which Kilkenny are not preparing for an All-Ireland hurling final.
The Tullaroan man was in Croke Park yesterday to help promote the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Camogie finals, including the senior final in which his younger sister Grace will play, and he revealed that the reality of Kilkenny’s absence from the biggest day in hurling really struck him when he arrived up at headquarters.
It is just the second season as a senior hurler the multiple All-Star has missed out since joining the Kilkenny panel he pointed out.
“Yeah, the second time. 2005 and this year. I’ve been here every year bar two and it’s definitely different. Even coming up here to Croke Park today and looking out at it knowing you’re not going to be playing out there is different. You’d love to be there in the final and maybe it makes us appreciate it that we were there for so many years,” he says.
There is at least one Kilkenny team in an All-Ireland decider though and he is delighted that he has been able to see sister Grace and her team-mates first hand this year as they arrive on Croke Park looking for a first All-Ireland crown in 19 years. For once it is his sister who is in the spotlight and he acknowledged that he isn’t as calm in the stands as his is on the pitch.
“It’s always tough looking at your own family playing, especially in the big games. You’d be nervous hoping that everything goes well for the team and her. It’s going to be different on Sunday week because it’s an All-Ireland final; a different experience. Hopefully it goes well for everyone.
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“I wouldn’t be too bad (as a spectator). I get excited when it’s one of my own teams playing. I suppose when it’s one of our own lads playing with the club or the camogie final I wouldn’t be a great spectator.”
Walsh revealed though that he hasn’t given his sister any advice on playing in Croke Park, because she hasn’t asked him for any.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for Croke Park. Sometimes you’re nearly better off not knowing anything about it,” he says. “I wouldn’t be giving her any advice unless she came asking about it and she hasn’t asked me anything about the final so far anyway. As any hurler will tell you, the first few times you go up to play in an All-Ireland are the easiest. You go out and you don’t know what’s ahead of you – you go out and hurl with abandon. I’d try and not give her too much advice – you learn yourself as you go along.”
While Walsh himself saw his summer end prematurely on the inter-county scene he has had plenty of hurling since and it hasn’t been a case of switching off completely despite Kilkenny’s earliest exit from the championship in over a decade.
“We’re club training at the moment and we’re nearly training more often. There’s no gym work involved with the club as much so you’re nearly training every second night. There are no problems with regards to filling in our time.
There hasn’t even been time for a summer holiday either.
“Because all our club championships are on now and we’re training with the club so you can’t really be going away on holidays or anything like that. You don’t want to be because this is the time of year we have been used to, since I was 17 going into the Kilkenny minors, we’ve never had summers off. You don’t even have to think about it – it’s not a sacrifice. We always book our holidays around the winter time and you can go off and enjoy it then as much as you can.”
In a turbulent year for the Cats Brian Cody’s absence due to heart surgery during the league campaign could have had a big impact on the panel, but Walsh pointed out that they had ample replacements in Cody’s right-hand men, Martin Fogarty and Mick Delaney. He says not having their iconic manager around didn’t faze the team unduly.
“I don’t think so. Obviously you’d want him there with you, but Martin and Mick are there so long, since 2005, so they were always a trio. You’d see the three of them there every single day at training, they’d never miss one, and it was strange that Brian wasn’t there, but the two lads knew just what to do. We went on and won the League final and there were no problems at the time. When you lose people look back and try to look for excuses. ‘Is this the reason, is that the reason?’ To win an All-Ireland you need a lot of luck and a lot to go right for you. We have won so many, people might not realise it and might take it for granted and look for what went wrong. Maybe the teams that beat us were just better than us – that’s the way I look at it.”
Looking ahead to 2014 and beyond Walsh doesn’t believe that there will be too many players walking away from the team anytime soon, and revealed that the hunger is very much still there for the Kilkenny players.
“No. We don’t talk or think about retirements. We’re after having such a ball over the last 10/12 years… why would anyone retire? It’s great. In a few years time, when you can’t go out there anymore, when you’re too old and your body’s not able to, that’s the time you can just enjoy your hurling. There’s no point in anyone retiring as you’ll only get a few more years at it, only a few more times we’ll get to play at Croke Park hopefully and you don’t want it to end.”
“I think there’s no better way to get your hunger than to look at the matches. We’re gone in the quarter-final so we’ve had to look at two All-Ireland semi-finals. We have to look at an All-Ireland final next Sunday. You have to read the papers, you’re looking at the television programmes, because you’re interested in hurling. You’re reading all them, looking at the programmes and Up For The Match Saturday night. There’s no better way to get the hunger going ‘cos you’d love if that was you up there.”
“When you come up and see it there today, you’d love to be out there. Croke Park is unbelievable, the pitch and the build-up. You get used to it for so many years you can start taking it for granted but you wouldn’t be taking it granted now.”
Predictions
Focusing on this weekend’s final Walsh, who has been victorious in seven All-Ireland finals since his debut in 2003, admitted that he is not surprised that Clare are now back in the big time, and despite the JBM factor, when pressed he tipped the Banner’s young guns to edge their Munster rivals on Sunday.
“They’re two similar teams. They’re great ball players. They seem to play the ball around rather than Route One-type hurling. It’s a hard one to predict. Clare seem to be coming with the U21 with fierce confidence. They have the experience of the big day and winning. It’s a hard one to call.”
“I’d say Clare. Cork have the luck this year, the enthusiasm is with them from the county with Jimmy Barry and all that but…”
'It'll be difficult to watch this year's All-Ireland final' - Tommy Walsh
KILKENNY STAR TOMMY Walsh has admitted that he is finding it difficult to adjust to a September in which Kilkenny are not preparing for an All-Ireland hurling final.
The Tullaroan man was in Croke Park yesterday to help promote the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Camogie finals, including the senior final in which his younger sister Grace will play, and he revealed that the reality of Kilkenny’s absence from the biggest day in hurling really struck him when he arrived up at headquarters.
It is just the second season as a senior hurler the multiple All-Star has missed out since joining the Kilkenny panel he pointed out.
“Yeah, the second time. 2005 and this year. I’ve been here every year bar two and it’s definitely different. Even coming up here to Croke Park today and looking out at it knowing you’re not going to be playing out there is different. You’d love to be there in the final and maybe it makes us appreciate it that we were there for so many years,” he says.
There is at least one Kilkenny team in an All-Ireland decider though and he is delighted that he has been able to see sister Grace and her team-mates first hand this year as they arrive on Croke Park looking for a first All-Ireland crown in 19 years. For once it is his sister who is in the spotlight and he acknowledged that he isn’t as calm in the stands as his is on the pitch.
“It’s always tough looking at your own family playing, especially in the big games. You’d be nervous hoping that everything goes well for the team and her. It’s going to be different on Sunday week because it’s an All-Ireland final; a different experience. Hopefully it goes well for everyone.
“I wouldn’t be too bad (as a spectator). I get excited when it’s one of my own teams playing. I suppose when it’s one of our own lads playing with the club or the camogie final I wouldn’t be a great spectator.”
Walsh revealed though that he hasn’t given his sister any advice on playing in Croke Park, because she hasn’t asked him for any.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for Croke Park. Sometimes you’re nearly better off not knowing anything about it,” he says. “I wouldn’t be giving her any advice unless she came asking about it and she hasn’t asked me anything about the final so far anyway. As any hurler will tell you, the first few times you go up to play in an All-Ireland are the easiest. You go out and you don’t know what’s ahead of you – you go out and hurl with abandon. I’d try and not give her too much advice – you learn yourself as you go along.”
While Walsh himself saw his summer end prematurely on the inter-county scene he has had plenty of hurling since and it hasn’t been a case of switching off completely despite Kilkenny’s earliest exit from the championship in over a decade.
“We’re club training at the moment and we’re nearly training more often. There’s no gym work involved with the club as much so you’re nearly training every second night. There are no problems with regards to filling in our time.
There hasn’t even been time for a summer holiday either.
“Because all our club championships are on now and we’re training with the club so you can’t really be going away on holidays or anything like that. You don’t want to be because this is the time of year we have been used to, since I was 17 going into the Kilkenny minors, we’ve never had summers off. You don’t even have to think about it – it’s not a sacrifice. We always book our holidays around the winter time and you can go off and enjoy it then as much as you can.”
In a turbulent year for the Cats Brian Cody’s absence due to heart surgery during the league campaign could have had a big impact on the panel, but Walsh pointed out that they had ample replacements in Cody’s right-hand men, Martin Fogarty and Mick Delaney. He says not having their iconic manager around didn’t faze the team unduly.
“I don’t think so. Obviously you’d want him there with you, but Martin and Mick are there so long, since 2005, so they were always a trio. You’d see the three of them there every single day at training, they’d never miss one, and it was strange that Brian wasn’t there, but the two lads knew just what to do. We went on and won the League final and there were no problems at the time. When you lose people look back and try to look for excuses. ‘Is this the reason, is that the reason?’ To win an All-Ireland you need a lot of luck and a lot to go right for you. We have won so many, people might not realise it and might take it for granted and look for what went wrong. Maybe the teams that beat us were just better than us – that’s the way I look at it.”
Looking ahead to 2014 and beyond Walsh doesn’t believe that there will be too many players walking away from the team anytime soon, and revealed that the hunger is very much still there for the Kilkenny players.
“I think there’s no better way to get your hunger than to look at the matches. We’re gone in the quarter-final so we’ve had to look at two All-Ireland semi-finals. We have to look at an All-Ireland final next Sunday. You have to read the papers, you’re looking at the television programmes, because you’re interested in hurling. You’re reading all them, looking at the programmes and Up For The Match Saturday night. There’s no better way to get the hunger going ‘cos you’d love if that was you up there.”
“When you come up and see it there today, you’d love to be out there. Croke Park is unbelievable, the pitch and the build-up. You get used to it for so many years you can start taking it for granted but you wouldn’t be taking it granted now.”
Predictions
Focusing on this weekend’s final Walsh, who has been victorious in seven All-Ireland finals since his debut in 2003, admitted that he is not surprised that Clare are now back in the big time, and despite the JBM factor, when pressed he tipped the Banner’s young guns to edge their Munster rivals on Sunday.
“They’re two similar teams. They’re great ball players. They seem to play the ball around rather than Route One-type hurling. It’s a hard one to predict. Clare seem to be coming with the U21 with fierce confidence. They have the experience of the big day and winning. It’s a hard one to call.”
“I’d say Clare. Cork have the luck this year, the enthusiasm is with them from the county with Jimmy Barry and all that but…”
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