Walsh had made peace with end of Kerry career

Tommy Walsh has admitted he privately put his Kerry career “to bed” after quitting the panel in disillusion four years ago.

Just shy of 32, the towering target man is in his third stint with Kerry having endured an inglorious second coming across 2015 and 2016 when he returned from Australian Rules.

Walsh featured only briefly in the 2015 Championship, brought on twice as Kerry’s last substitute, before being largely left on the bench in the 2016 Allianz League.

The 2009 All-Ireland winner, whose AFL career was halted by a serious hamstring injury, did start the opening two games of the 2016 league, but was only used twice as a sub in their remaining seven games.

Four years on, and a key figure again having been recalled by Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s successor Peter Keane, starting five games in last year’s league and featuring in the All-Ireland finals, Walsh acknowledged Fitzmaurice’s decisions “were never something personal against me”.

But he felt he deserved more game-time with his last appearance under Fitzmaurice coming as a 68th-minute sub in the 2016 league win over Cork. “I think any fella that leaves a squad will say they weren’t getting a fair crack,” said Walsh. “I think I was probably putting a lot of pressure on myself and probably wasn’t performing to the level I felt I could have.

“Now, at the same time, while I probably wasn’t playing that well, there were certain times during the 18 months that I was there that I felt I was doing enough to get into the team. There were probably 10 other fellas that felt that too.

At the time, I came straight back in, there was a lot of expectation externally obviously, I don’t know if that put a lot of pressure on me but I think there were certain times during my stint there that I felt I was doing enough.

“I know Éamonn, I know the decisions were never something personal against me, he was doing what he felt was best for the Kerry team, and while I didn’t agree with those decisions, I respect them and got on with it.”

Paul Murphy featured in the half-forwards in 2016 and Walsh appeared to have slipped behind fringe forwards Alan Fitzgerald, Barry John Keane, and Michael Geaney.

“I’d kind of put that to bed really,” said Walsh of his career before Keane phoned him in late 2018 out of the blue.

“I was happy, like. I was living my life. I have a lot of other interests besides football and I was doing different things. I was able to go away at weekends in the summer which obviously I can’t do now. I was living my life and getting on with it.”

Four years after starting the 2016 league opener against Dublin, Walsh is fully fit and available to line out again if selected against the Dubs on Saturday evening. Kerry followers are naturally licking their lips at the prospect of Walsh profiting under the new advanced mark rule.

“Hopefully, I suppose I would see ball winning as one of my strengths. It’s entirely down to how the team play. We have good kickers as well and if the boys are able to find me, I’ll get my hands on a few. I’ll always give myself a chance of taking it. You have to turn around then and kick it over the bar. I’m not a free-taker so that’s something I’ll have to get used to if I do take a couple of marks.”

Walsh feels the advanced mark has a place in the game but reckons authorities have over complicated it.

“You have to tell the referee you’re taking the mark by putting up your hand,” said Walsh, who made five appearances for Sydney in the AFL.

If you play on, the defence can’t touch you for four steps. If you mark it inside in the square, it’s a different rule again. I think those little things might cause the problem whereas in Aussie Rules, it’s far simpler; you take the mark, you step off, if you come off your line, it’s play on. I think there’s too many rules around the mark itself that might cause problems.

Walsh denied that Gaelic football is now too close to Aussie Rules and said the GAA should borrow a couple more rules from Down Under.

“I think the 50-metre rule is a good idea, I think you’d see far less back-chat, you’d see far less cynical play,” he said. “If a guy is messing around at the middle of the field, throwing the ball away, if it’s brought up in front of the goals it’ll cut it out instantly.”

Walsh also called for referees to be relieved of timekeeping duties and for the GAA to consider having two refs at inter-county level.