Walsh waxes lyrical about Australian adventure

TOMMY WALSH has admitted that the manner in which he ended up with St Kilda couldn’t have worked out better for him.

The ex-young footballer of the year had a trial with the Melbourne-based AFL club in 2008. It was too late for him to join the Saints though, so he returned home and won an All-Ireland with Kerry last September.

Crucially though, he also had time to think about whether he wanted to try something completely different and came to the conclusion that he might regret it if he didn’t.

“It was a huge decision to come out here,” said Walsh yesterday. “I had so much to leave at home; my Gaelic football, college and family. But in the end I just thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“I didn’t want to be looking back in 10 years’ time saying ‘I could have done this’ or ‘I should have done that.’ So I just decided to give it a go as then I’d know for sure.”

Having been a star in Ireland, Walsh has had to start from scratch in learning a whole new skill set. He also needed to improve his fitness.

The Tralee man’s determination and physique have proven major assets as he continues his education with Sandringham in the Victorian Football League.

“I’ve done a lot of work getting to know the skills and the knowledge, which hopefully next year will allow me to take it to the next level,’’ he said. “I still do a fair bit of one-on-one work before and after training with the coaches. Everyone else has had so much of a head start on me so I am just really trying to catch up.

“I’d never done any of the running training as much as I have done here, so that was tough and it took me three or four weeks to really get used to it, although I am probably still getting used to it now. Getting to the level (of fitness) that I needed to be at was really tough.

“My body has held up pretty well though. The coaches were worried with how I would cope with all the training and games but I’ve got through everything and don’t think I have missed a training session all year.”

A forward colossus with Kerry, Walsh has played predominantly in the half-back line for St Kilda’s VFL affiliate team, with the odd appearance in attack.

“I’ve played most of my games at the back so I feel comfortable down there. But like most people I also do like playing forward and kicking some goals. I’d never been a defender before I came here. At the start I didn’t really like it but as the games went on I started to feel more comfortable down there.”

With the VFL season over, Walsh will continue to train with St Kilda before returning home for the off-season.

“I’m just looking to take a step towards to the next level now. I want to come back and train hard and try and improve as much as I can.”