Shane Walsh believes the commotion around his transfer to Kilmacud Crokes last year had an impact on his form with Galway during the 2023 season.
Walsh, who is living and working in the capital, transferred from his native Kilkerrin-Clonberne to Crokes in August 2022, and played a key role in the Stillorgan outfit winning the Dublin SFC last October.
Crokes then progressed all the way to last January’s All-Ireland club final where they beat Glen, though the game ended in controversy because of the number of players Kilmacud briefly had on the field.
Walsh took a break after the club campaign and returned to the Galway panel for the latter stages of the league, but over the 2023 season he struggled to rediscover his All Star form of 2022.
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“I suppose all the noise that was around with it was a huge off-put for me coming back into the intercounty season, whereas now I’m on my own terms and the noise is all over with,” says Walsh, who helped Crokes retain the Dublin title on Sunday.
“I’m just doing the same as every other player is doing and that’s great for me because my focus is kind of clear and I’m able to just focus on my body and get myself ready and, look, I owe a lot to the Galway lads there.
“They rely on me at times as well in games and I didn’t deliver and, you know, I expect it of myself as well and that wasn’t there.”
Walsh, who is returning to form after dealing with lower back, hip and ankle issues since the end of the 2023 intercounty campaign, admits it was difficult last season to shield himself from the outside chatter.
“Ah it was, you know, it was persistent,” he says. “You block it out when you’re playing and in fairness to lads here [Kilmacud Crokes] they were all good to me in that sense, but it is tough because at the end of the day I’m doing the same as everyone else here, kicking the ball around the field.
“We’re amateurs, we go to work during the day, we come home, we go training. You don’t expect to kind of be put out in any other area by yourself in that regard, but that’s the way it panned out.
“I can’t control those things, I suppose I controlled what I could control but I just felt it was just great to get a reset.
“[I] definitely have that now and I’m looking forward to next year. Obviously, we’re not finished with the club yet but I’ll be doing a bit to make sure I’m putting in the work as well for next year.
“I’ve been chatting to Pádraic and that in the last few weeks as well. Look, obviously you have one eye on that. It’s been a completely different 12 months this year compared to last year.”
Walsh’s wonderous second-half goal was the game-breaker for Crokes in Sunday’s Dublin SFC final win over Ballyboden. The beautifully placed strike put Crokes 1-9 to 0-6 ahead.
“A goal was always going to be big,” continues Walsh. “When that chance came along, I just put my head down and went for it. Thankfully it came off and it gave us that breathing space to set our banks up and kind of just pick them off as they came forward.
“Ballyboden are a fine side, we didn’t allow them to play. We got in their faces and we stopped them playing and we got to play the game on our terms.”
