A stroke of Brian Cody genius.
When Padraig Walsh was first moved from his natural number 5 position back to full back last year, plenty of eyebrows were raised.
It was the opening round of the 2017 League against Waterford, and the Tullaroan man was named at number three on the Cats’ team sheet.
It seemed to many a bizarre call at the time. Walsh won an All-Star at 5 and had made that jersey his own. As well as being one of the tightest markers in their defensive unit, his ability going forward was one of their greatest weapons.
Half back seemed to be the perfect position for him to flourish. One of the best hurlers in the country under a high ball, he negated the threat of so many opposing teams’ half forwards during his time there. On top of that, his play was so dominant and so class out the field that it often turned out that the wing forward would end up marking him rather than the other way around.
Described by many as the most enjoyable place on the field to play, inheriting that jersey from his brother Tommy seemed a rite of passage for Padraig. That was exactly what it was for his first few years on the scene.
But the 2016 All-Ireland final changed everything for Kilkenny. The Noresiders were eaten alive by a rampant Seamus Callanan inspired Tipperary like we’d never ever seen before. Their full back line of Joey Holden, Shane Prendergast and Paul Murphy suffered the most under the September sun.
Full back had been a problem position for Kilkenny ever since JJ Delaney’s retirement and Brian Cody knew he’d have to change something.
That was when he called on Padraig Walsh to curb his natural instincts. He would be restricted to manning the edge of his own square and many felt that Cody had lost the plot, putting his rolls royce in the garage.
Padraig Walsh at full back again for kilkenny, i think it's madness a much better 5 and got an all star playing there. @daithi_regan
— Brian Costello (@coso77) January 27, 2018
Surely Kilkenny cant afford not to play Padraig Walsh further out the field he is just class….#whatapoint
— Liam Sheedy (@LiamLsheedy) January 27, 2018
Many are still convinced of that but look at how it has steadied the ship for Kilkenny, who are now preparing for a League final with Tipperary next weekend.
And Walsh’s influence on their last line of defence has been key to that. He’s helped shore up the gaps that were losing games for them, he’s steadied the ship and has made sure that every full forward playing against Kilkenny is in for a tough 70 minutes.
You’ve to earn everything you win off Padraig Walsh.
It is true that the primary duty of a full back is to be a stopper, but Walsh is so good that he can play from there too.
He’s still finding the opportunity to gallop out the field with balls that lift the whole team. He’s done it on countless occasions in this League campaign but this one, which led to the score of the competition against Cork, showed that better than anything.
Padraig Walsh bursts out from full back position to give Kilkenny that much needed inspiration pic.twitter.com/G9u3t0kWfG
— The GAA (@officialgaa) January 27, 2018
Cody knew well Walsh’s flamboyance would be a huge loss to the team as a whole but he obviously felt needs must and that the requirement to solve their full back ills was even greatest need of all.
It doesn’t look like a bad call now.
