If Tommy Walsh left as Lomu, he returned as McCaw

Last week, Tommy Walsh picked up his phone and scrolled down through his phonebook looking for Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s number.

It was a down week for Kerry, as they licked their wounds after the league final defeat to Dublin before dusting off the drawing board ahead of another summer assault on the championship.

There was no hint of attention seeking in the timing or manner of his decision to opt out of the county squad but it must have been a hard call to make.

Like breaking up with a long-term girlfriend because you’ve just grown apart over time. ‘I still love you, but I’ve got to let you go’ kind of thing.

I’m sure Tommy had rehearsed the conversation over and over in his head covering off every possible sidewinder from his manager to try and get him to stay the course.

In truth, he might have done Fitzy a favour by taking the uncomfortable decision out of his manager’s hands.

When most supporters recall the big Kerins O’Rahilly’s man at the peak of his powers, they recite the demolition job he did against Cork in the 2009 All-Ireland final.

He nailed four points from play that day — two off the left, two off the right. He bullied them throughout, full of hard running, ball winning and flawless kicking by a then 22-year-old.

My abiding memory of Tommy came a year earlier in the 2008 All-Ireland semi-final replay against the same opposition.

In the first half, he won a ball over his head around the 45-yard line and then took off for the game’s defining moment.

One strong hand-off, and an explosion of pace left defenders trailing in his slipstream before he side-footed the ball past Alan Quirke for an incredible individual goal.

He looked like the GAA’s answer to a young Jonah Lomu that day — an athletic freak with the two-sided skills to match.

The inevitable call from Australia soon came, and it took him on an adventure that nobody could begrudge him.

He lived his next few years basking in the glow of being a professional footballer in a different game a long way from home.

He went with a bigger reputation that most rookies who enter the AFL but failed to live up to his billing with St Kilda, before finding his comfort zone with the Sydney Swans.

He was just getting his chance as a centre-forward in one of the top squads in the country when injury came calling.

His hamstring came clean off the bone as he reached awkwardly to win a ball. Even now, I cringe at the memory of it.

His contract was up at the end of that season and after the surgery and endless hours of rehab he came home to Ireland with a very different body to the one he left with. His wheels would no longer spin as fast.

If he left as Lomu, he returned as Richie McCaw.

It was after his return that I felt Éamonn and the Kerry management made a mistake with the way they handled his reintroduction to Gaelic football.

Instead of being flooded with club football games to help him re-acclimatise to his new physical limitations, he was thrown straight into the deep end with Kerry.

He trained with them and sat on the bench during league games playing a bit-part role in their campaign while competitive club game after club game went a-begging.

It may seem like only a small thing, but I thought it was an error of judgement not to leave him find his feet first before asking him to fly.

And fly he didn’t, save for a few highlight reel catches at midfield in a 10-minute cameo against Kildare in last years’ excuse for a quarter-final.

I think Tommy has made the right decision for himself.

It is impossible to appreciate the kind of mental frustration and fatigue he was suffering, being caught in limbo, after being as good as he was before he departed for Australia.

My overriding feeling for Tommy is one of regret that it hasn’t worked out for him.

He was such a superstar before he left, steeped in such a proud family history following in his dad Seanie’s footsteps.

You just wanted it to work out for him, and for Kerry.

But Éamonn Fitzmaurice, like any manager, has to be selfish. He doesn’t care about your surname, history or heritage.

All he cares about is winning.

If you are not performing in training, somebody else will get your minutes, and, essentially, that must have been the bottom line for Tommy.

He’s back with his club now, my club, and we’re delighted to have him.

We played club championship last weekend and I saw enough from him to suggest he may not be with us on a full-time basis for much more than this year.

There is no question that he doesn’t have the same explosiveness over the first 5-10 yards as he had pre-injury, but at the very worst he’s still as quick as Donaghy, Johnny Buckley, or Donnacha Walsh for example.

He isn’t driving on flat tyres, and he’s plenty quick enough to play inter-county football, but he just needs the confidence that comes with playing and performing well in games.

The more club football he plays, the more comfortable he will become.

He has extricated himself from an environment where he was under constant pressure, dealing with incessant negativity in his own head, and moved to a place where he feels like he’s wanted and needed again.

Don’t underestimate the difference that can make to a guy and the impact it can have on his football. He scored a goal last Sunday afternoon that brought us right back to Croke Park and 2008.

A hand-off and burst of pace through the heart of the defence from the 45 that had the net billowing a few seconds later. You could almost see the relief pouring out of him… it’s still there, in him, waiting to come out.