Shane Walsh provides update on his All-Ireland fitness battle and the noise he is trying to defy
Walsh is minding ankle and hamstring injuries as he gets ready for a second All-Ireland final in three years with Galway.
Shane Walsh says Galway used the “huge boost of confidence” of beating Dublin to help them get over Donegal in the All-Ireland semi-final.
The All Star forward kicked three points at the weekend to help his side set up a final date with Armagh in a fortnight’s time. Galway and Armagh have been at each other’s throats over the past three years.
The Tribe won the biggest game of their three meetings - the 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final - on penalties.
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Armagh pipped Galway in the All-Ireland groups stage in 2023 to top the table and a few weeks ago grabbed a late draw to again top the table and secure an automatic quarter-final place. The score stands at one win apiece with one draw.
But this time it’s very different, with Dublin and Kerry gone. The sides are in an All-Ireland final and one win away from ultimate glory. It’s the type of opportunity that rarely presents itself.
2021 - a covid effected season - is the only time since 2012 that Dublin or Kerry haven’t been in the Sam Maguire decider. That’s once across 11 years.
Walsh said: “I think both of us know that. Armagh spent a long time on the road under Kieran (McGeeney) as well and they have had their hurt over the years as well.
“They have used that to get to the final this year. We have obviously had our hurt as well and it’s two teams that are in the final.
“Any time you get to a final, it’s an opportunity for either team, regardless of whether it’s a Dublin, or Galway, or Armagh, or Kerry. There’s an opportunity there for someone. It’s about going with the two hands and grabbing it on the day.”
Walsh says the experience of the build-up to their narrow All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry in 2022 is “a small box ticked,” but nothing more.
He continued: “I think it’s a small part. It’s a new game and Armagh could bring something new to the table.
“You don’t know on the given day what can happen. Today, with Paul’s (Conroy) goal going in, that could happen.
“It’s like Mike Tyson said, ‘It’s all good having a game plan until you get the punch in the mouth,’ and the next thing you have to kind of react to it.
“That’s what we’ll have to do on the day and Armagh will have to do the same. Obviously look, we knew each other so well.
“Whoever probably prepares the best and maybe adds something to their game is who is going to get over the line. That’s how tight it is going to be.”
Walsh, who lasted an hour after going off with a hamstring injury against Dublin, believes one sign of Galway’s strength this year is that different players are stepping up on different days.
Cillian McDaid was the man against Dublin, while at the weekend Corofin half back duo Liam Silke and Dylan McHugh weighed in with two points from play apiece as well as numerous assists.
The duo hit three of Galway’s last five points, while Silke had two direct assists for points and McHugh had one.
It was an emphatic response to anyone who believed Galway would find it difficult to return to the performance levels that saw them take out Dublin.
Walsh, who plays his club football with Kilmacud Crokes in the capital, said: “I just think it was probably the noise around us was loud because everyone was on high doh after beating Dublin.
“For us as a group, we knew it was just another step and we could use this as a huge boost of confidence going into the rest of the year. That’s the way it panned out. If we want to be serious about things, you have to get over that game and move onto the next one.
“At the end of the day, it was the quarter-final of an All-Ireland Championship. Yes, we took out Dublin, but whoever was there, we had to take them out regardless of who it was.”
Speaking about his own fitness, Walsh, who was rested during the League, said: “It’s (training) tailored to what I could do and what I couldn’t do I suppose. But like, you are doing whatever you can. Recovery, everything like that to get back on the field.
"I’ve had that the last couple of games. I wouldn’t feel there’s any difference. People are trying to tell me I am getting old so I am hoping to try and defy that a bit. I got through it. That was the main thing. It was all about getting it done.
“Nothing is won. It’s an All-Ireland semi-final. All you are trying to do is put your hand up, get forward, get on the team (against Donegal) and just do your best.
“That’s all you can do there. You are not going to be 100 percent every time you go out and you are trying to give the best you can. Every lad was doing their best there.
“Look, a symptom of our year, it’s been a different man that has stood up.
“Dylan (against Donegal). Cillian (McDaid) the last day. Paul (Conroy) in the Monaghan game. Damo (Comer) against Mayo. Rob (Finnerty) against Sligo.
“I could keep going on. That’s the way it’s been all year. That’s the sign of a good team that it’s not relying on any one individual.”
Walsh revealed that the Galway manager has been challenging McHugh and Silke to do more in an attacking sense.
“In fairness, Pádraic says to them as well, they should be doing that,” continued the 31 year old. “They are well capable of it. They have been doing it in training. It’s just about translating it over into games.
“Look, I suppose in the last couple of games, Dylan has got up for a couple of scores. Silkey is always ghosting in around the place there.
“Ah, it’s just brilliant. That’s what you need. Different lads, because at the end of the day if you have lads that are being tied down inside you need somebody else to step up and the lads did that.”
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