A long way from Killarney in May

TOMMY WALSH’S debut in the AFL next week is a story that will be framed by the sports pages, distilled by short-sleeved press men and is, undeniably, about Aussie Rules.

But it’s about Aussie Rules footie the same way Citizen Kane is about sleds. There is much more to this one.

When the rookie-listed Kerryman — if that’s not a contradiction in terms — lopes onto the field under his hard-top of blonde hair alongside his senior St Kilda’s team mates for the first time on the biggest stage Down Under, it will almost be a journey as long as that between Fiji and Croke Park.