The man in form.
Before things got heated, Conor McManus was the best player at the International Rules for Ireland.
For Australia? Probably Nat Fyfe,
But there was one man that really made a name for himself as if he hadn’t before.
Shane Walsh is highly respected in the GAA world, if he’s not in the marquee forward bracket he’s very much close to it.
And how Walsh proved that today.
Midway through the match, Marty Morrissey noted that if you asked any player in the squad about Shane Walsh they would call him the man in form.
Twice today Walsh tore open the Australian defence with his blistering pace to be involved in two-goal chances. First, he gutted the Australian defence to set up Darren Hughes only for the Monaghan player’s shot to be stopped by stand-in goalkeeper Brendon Goddard. Then he found himself one-on-one only for Goddard to be the hero and prevent the Galway forward from scoring a goal.
Like a cheetah throughout the match, game respects game and Austin Gleeson posted on Twitter:
“Shane Walsh wouldn’t look out of place at the Olympics!
#AfterBurners”
Shane walsh wouldn't look out of place at the Olympics! #AfterBurners 💨💨
— AussieGleeson (@AussieGleeson) November 18, 2017
And Gleeson wasn’t the only one to take notice of Walsh today.
A great series which the Aussies fully deserved. I thought that Shane Walsh was excellent tonight but Nat Fyfe is on another level, and a gent by the sounds of it too.
— Ciaron O'Hanlon (@Ciaron0Hanlon) November 18, 2017
Shane Walsh can expect to be on the AFL radar after today’s performance #InternationalRules
— Brian McClelland (@BrianMcClella14) November 18, 2017
Shane Walsh has an impressive game 🏐🏇🏆#Olympics #speed @Galway_GAA @irfsofficial #InternationalRules #aussierules @officialgaa
— 𝙽𝚘𝚎𝚕 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕 (@NoelCarroll5) November 18, 2017
Shane Walsh has been brilliant for Ireland
— Sean Mealiffe (@seaniemealiffe) November 18, 2017
Finally got to watch the @officialgaa #IRS2017 Always had soft spot for the game. Ireland struggle with the tackle offload but decent game. Shane Walsh speed to burn🔥
— Aidan Murray (@AidanMurs) November 18, 2017
It wasn’t a game of near goals for Walsh though, he did pop one hell of a score to cap off a brilliant display.
What a performance today by Shane Walsh! We may not have got the #IRS2017 result we wanted but they did us proud! Take a look at this score! pic.twitter.com/ecPn1M8p7X
— The GAA (@officialgaa) November 18, 2017
Take a bow.
