‘I like the balance of Damien and Rob inside’ – Should Galway start Shane Walsh?

Speaking on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast, former Galway player Gary Sice put forward his case to continue to deploy 2022 All-Star Shane Walsh from the bench.

Mon, 06 May, 2024 - 13:32

Maurice Brosnan

A Man of the Match performance from Damien Comer on Sunday drove Galway to their third Connacht title in a row. As a result, they will welcome Derry to Salthill in two weeks’ time.

What does the win mean for their starting team? Shane Walsh was withdrawn before the throw-in against Mayo and came on just before half-time. He scored two points from play, as did Comer. Robert Finnerty kicked 0-8 including five frees.

Speaking on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast, former Galway player Gary Sice put forward his case to continue to deploy 2022 All-Star Walsh from the bench.

“I like the balance Damien and Rob have inside,” he said. “It is my opinion, if you play the three of them, Rob ends up left out of it. Shane and Damien dominate possession and anything Rob does get then is pressurised because he gets so little ball. The more times Rob Finnerty gets the ball in his hands early in the game the more problems he creates.

“He is so creative. His use of space is excellent, he is a facilitator of other players. That is something people don’t realise. He is expected to kick five or six points, but he actually gets his hands on ball. He sees things others don’t. He flicks people into runs. He will make Damien look really good too.

“The ball in for the goal chance, it wasn’t that he saw it. It was the weight of the ball, it allowed Damien make a decision, while the ball was in the air, decide what he was going to do next.”

Pádraic Joyce’s side lined out with Cathal Sweeney covering back from the corner-forward position while Johnny Heaney, Sean Kelly and Kieran Molloy started in the half-forward line. Sweeney and Molloy were both taken off in the first half.

Walsh has missed a significant portion of the league so far. He suffered an injury against Mayo in the opening league game that ruled him out for the entire campaign. He started against Sligo in the Connacht SFC semi-final but was replaced before the end.

Victory sets Galway up in a group with the Ulster final losers, Derry and Westmeath. Their first fixture is a home one and a rematch of the 2022 All-Ireland semi-final. That game will be played on 18/19 May.

“I would play Rob and Damien inside and go for a workmen-like half-forward line again,” said Sice. “It worked well yesterday. (Then) Shane comes in, he caused havoc yesterday. He was fresh and there was space to run into. I thought he was excellent when he came in.”