He togs out bigger.
When you meet Donnchadh Walsh up close, you’re taken by the sheer size of the man.
He’s tall, he has a big back on him and he looks like he’s made of pure, dense muscle. Everyone in the country knows he can run all day but few give him credit for his machine-like physique.
Maybe it’s the way he runs, or maybe it’s something deceiving like tucking the jersey in but Walsh, in the flesh, looks almost twice the specimen than the one you see ploughing the fields from the stands or on TV.
He struts around Croke Park for the launch of the SuperValu Behind The Ball campaign and he’s imposing. Conor McManus is there too and he recalls marking Walsh on this hallowed turf when he was playing wing back for Monaghan. The Farney man was run into the ground that day, McManus claims. He isn’t one bit surprised now at the stature of Walsh standing here beside us.
55,000 balls will be given away to clubs across Ireland from SuperValu.
Wherever you go, whoever you talk to, you’ll not get into a conversation about Donnchadh Walsh without the word ‘underrated’ being used.
Perhaps it’s fair enough because it’s not like this guy’s a complete dud. He’s a quality footballer doing a selfless role and risks going unnoticed in some games.
But he’s a man who has played on the same minor team as Colm Cooper and Declan O’Sullivan. He was once a midfielder in those days and he kicked 1-4 from there across four under-18 championship games in 2002.
“When I was younger, Jack O’Shea was my hero and I played midfield for my club and the divisional side and midfield for Kerry minors as well,” Walsh explained to SportsJOE.
“But you soon realise that you just go wherever you’re put and wherever you can be used best. I’m happy wherever I’m put.”
You ask him for his favourite position and his answer is simpler.
“I just want to play for Kerry.”
Walsh has been serving his county for 16 years now so you believe him when he talks about the jersey and the team and all that other stuff that you usually fob off as guff. It means something to the Cromane native and that’s why he plays like he does.
Since he was a teenager, he’s been watching others take the plaudits.
“Gooch was the standout performer for us,” he spoke of the 2001 minor team that lost to Dublin in the semi-final.
“He was the standout even that day on the losing team. I remember there were pictures of him in the paper the next day – kind of like, ‘who is this fella?’
“He burst onto the scene in Croke Park.
“He was phenomenal – just his movement was unusual. There was a picture of him holding the ball and it was almost like a basketball-style hold. For a small guy, you could still tell he was special, even at that early stage.”
But whilst he’s seen his fair share of superstars, he’s experienced losing with those guys too. Probably why he talks about the dangers of having ‘a great team on paper’.
Probably why he’s willing to sacrifice his own glory for the benefit of the team. Most wing forwards have to do that now – it’s basically part of the contract.
Walsh is a technically gifted footballer but he doesn’t give a shit if he’s known as a workhorse.
“It doesn’t frustrate me,” he told SportsJOE.
“I’m not concerned whatever people think of me outside our own group. You just do what the manager wants – you play your part to ensure that the team is improving and that the team wins.
“At the end of the day, this isn’t an individual sport – you do it because you’re playing with a team and you have massive respect for the players on your team and the jersey that you’re wearing.
“It doesn’t concern me what people around might think of me and might think of how I play.”
How many 10s and 12s around the island would agree?
You ask what his role is exactly and you can see his mind thinking up a dozen different things. Therein lies the greatest explanation of what modern day wing forwards are being asked to do.
If anyone would know…
“You’re asked to do a lot,” Walsh laughed.
“I’ve big respect for all wing forwards at the moment – our role is quite diverse.
“I think everybody’s role in the modern day game is diverse. Our fitness levels are increasing, every year players are putting a lot of work into strength and conditioning so there’s more being asked of us and we’re able to deliver a bit more.
“You’re getting your tackles in, you’re the link play, you’re trying to get in off the full forward line and get scores as well so it’s a bit of everything really. There’s no aspect of the game that a wing forward can’t contribute to.
“It’s just the way the modern game has gone.”
And, for a man who spent five full seasons on the Kerry bench when he was first called in straight out of minors, he’s happy to do whatever duties asked of him from here on in. He’s happy to satisfy the requirements of the modern game.
He’s done too much work just to break onto the team in the first place. He’s not about to risk any of it in the off chance that people might not underrate him anymore.
“I just want to play for Kerry…”
