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Tommy Walsh in action during the Kerins O’Rahillys v Milltown/Castlemaine match on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
KERINS O’RAHILLYS manager, Mike Quirke, has had his say on Tommy Walsh’s departure from the Kerry panel last week.
Mike Quirke, who also soldiered in green and gold with Tommy, is glad to have the former young player of the year back and focused on the blues.
“I think Tommy has made the right decision for himself,” said Mike Quirke in his column today in the Irish Examiner.
“It is impossible to appreciate the kind of mental frustration and fatigue he was suffering, being caught in limbo, after being as good as he was before he departed for Australia. My overriding feeling for Tommy is one of regret that it hasn’t worked out for him. He was such a superstar before he left, steeped in such a proud family history following in his dad Seanie’s footsteps. You just wanted it to work out for him, and for Kerry.”
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Over the weekend, Walsh lined out for Kerins O’Rahillys against Milltown/Castlemaine in a Club Championship Relegation Playoff and netted a cracking second half goal.
“He’s back with his club now, my club, and we’re delighted to have him,” said Quirke. “We played club championship last weekend and I saw enough from him to suggest he may not be with us on a full-time basis for much more than this year.”
“There is no question that he doesn’t have the same explosiveness over the first 5-10 yards as he had pre-injury, but at the very worst he’s still as quick as Donaghy, Johnny Buckley, or Donnacha Walsh for example…The more club football he plays, the more comfortable he will become.”
“He has extricated himself from an environment where he was under constant pressure, dealing with incessant negativity in his own head, and moved to a place where he feels like he’s wanted and needed again…He scored a goal last Sunday afternoon that brought us right back to Croke Park and 2008…You could almost see the relief pouring out of him… it’s still there, in him, waiting to come out.”
You can read the full Irish Examiner column here
