Waiting in the wings tiresome for Tommy

ALLIANZ HL DIV 1 SEMI-FINAL:

It wasn’t enough for some, though.

An impromptu game of two-on-two was later called, David Herity in goal and the winners staying on. Tommy Walsh wasn’t for budging. On paper, TJ Reid was the best finisher among them but nobody approached it with as much zeal as the Tullaroan man. Firing ferocious shots to the net from point blank range, he would not be beaten.

For the remaining few in the stadium watching on, the competitive streak that has served him so well was evident in all its glory.

However, it’s a different Walsh thousands have seen in a Kilkenny jersey this spring. His league so far has amounted to just 80 minutes, two first halves and the last five minutes of the opener in Ennis.

A week later and he was taken off at half-time against Tipperary, while he suffered the same fate in the Dublin game when he was replaced by his younger brother Pádraig.

The latter game wasn’t the first time Danny Sutcliffe has got the better of Walsh in recent years. Should the counties meet in July’s Leinster final the prospect of their duel will be the most talked about clash. But right now many are questioning whether Walsh will retain the No5 jersey he has made his own since 2007. In 32 Championship games since then, he’s been replaced just once while his unbroken run of SHC starts extends to 52.

His Parnell Park exit was actually the third occasion Walsh has been removed from the fray at half-time. Taken off at the break against DIT in January’s Walsh Cup quarter-final in Freshford, Brian Cody explained: “We just wanted to give him the first half”.

But these cameos are now becoming a bit too regular for a proud a hurler who turns 31 next month; whose incredible run of nine All Stars came to an end in 2011.

It’s what happened since then that has given cause for concern. An All-Ireland title in 2012 had an asterisk beside it. “I wasn’t hugely disappointed that I didn’t get the All Star,” he said last year of 2012. “I was hugely disappointed that I didn’t play well enough to get one.”

Kilkenny may have not graced Croke Park in last year’s Championship but Walsh’s season was an improvement on his previous campaign.

Yet his stock now appears to have dropped again. A player whose list of Railway Cup appearances is close to unrivalled — “sure what else would I be doing?” he told a friend earlier this year — Walsh is on record as saying February and March are his favourite times of the season because he’s playing every week.

With such little game-time, it’s little surprise that reports coming from Kilkenny training is that he’s a frustrated figure right now.

That he finds himself in exulted company in the form of Brian Hogan in exile provides scant solace. Has Cody realised teams now have the skinny on Walsh? A hurler who literally scales heights other 5ft 8in men could only dream of, whose catches and clearances are the stuff of inspiration, counties have learned to keep the ball away from his quarter. He’s also lost some of his explosive power, so vital to his bustling nature and ability to break tackles.

Interviewed at the launch of the league in February, he took issue with the emphasis placed on the characterisation of Clare as a small, fast team.

“I just think you have to adapt to the strengths of your own team and everyone has their chance. There’s more than one skill, it’s not just speed.”

He could have been defending himself with such a comment. Why a hurler of his capabilities hasn’t been reassigned elsewhere when he has proven himself to be versatile is slightly unusual.

It would hardly be an accommodation to reposition him at corner back, midfield or wing forward, all positions where he has thrived before.

But has he become typecast as a right half back? It was pointed when Cody rearranged his back-line to face Tipperary Walsh was one of the immovable objects.

Walsh, though, has shown flashes of a desire to extend his brief. In last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, it was his demented drive to follow up Richie Power’s penalty, which compelled Barry Kelly to order it to be re-hit (Walsh was a few metres away from the goal when his team-mate struck the ball). Undeterred, the defender did something similar for the retake and was first to the rebound, forcing Anthony Nash into an awesome save.

“I don’t know what he was thinking, really, to take off,” said Walsh’s comrade Eddie Brennan of his first run. “I suppose he was trying to support play.”

Brennan, though, would know better than most the frenzied fury that fuels Walsh.

“He’ll need it now more than ever as he faces a fight to remain relevant.