If Aidan Walsh is about to head into the busiest year of his life, it’s as well that he’s in the shape for it.
While several players found themselves shaking off a few lingering cobwebs during Sunday’s McGrath Cup final in Mallow, the Cork midfielder was the very picture of energy up and down the pitch.
He scored a point, provided the ball for the John Hayes goal that put Kerry away and generally fetched and carried with an apprentice’s enthusiasm.
It was a notably dynamic display, especially considering he’s one of those who has served his time compared to a number of the newer faces in Brian Cuthbert’s squad.
Half the team that won the All-Ireland in 2010 is gone now, leaving Walsh among the elder statesmen despite him only turning 24 later this week.
With him looking to split time between the Cork footballers and hurlers for the coming season at least, the arrival of a rash of new players mad for road hasn't come a minute too soon.
'Extra bite'
"In fairness all the guys coming in have brought a real freshness to the place," he says.
“There’s a lot of young lads there and they’ve come in with nothing to lose really. They’ve brought an extra bit of pace and extra bite to the whole thing. They’ve freshened the whole thing up a small bit.
“So it’s exciting to have them around. There’s plenty of talent in the county, it’s just a matter of getting them all out. There’s no doubt we’re all going in the right direction and we’ve got a winning mentality going in the group. Hopefully now it will be a long year.
“I think all of us have to take extra responsibility really. We’re all pushing each other. The lads in the backs have to feel like they’re pushing the fellas in the forwards.
“We all think we have extra responsibility, especially with our biggest leader gone in [Graham] Canty. We all have to step up to the Walsh mark. It’s a challenge for us but hopefully we’ll live up to it.”
The possibility of committing to both codes was mooted back in November and the first wave of that reality crashes down over his head for real this week.
Training with the hurlers starts in anger tonight, the first league game for the footballers is on Sunday week. How he’s going to keep all the plates spinning isn’t carved in rock anywhere just yet but he’s intent on giving it his best go one way or another.
“First training session Tuesday night, so it’s exciting. It’s always a great place to be.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few years and I’m looking forward to the challenge. I know it’s going to be very tough but I said I’d have a cut of it this year and see how I go.”
Will it be one week with the hurlers, one week with the footballers?
"I don't know yet, I'm going to play it by ear really. I'll have to see how it goes. Whatever Cubby and Jimmy Barry decide. We haven't really talked about it yet. We'll just see."
Boxed off
For now, at least the first objective of the footballing year has been boxed off. A McGrath Cup won't exactly sing off his CV but it was a game that was there to be won and they were better to do so than not, especially after being overrun as a team in the first half on Sunday.
“I suppose it’s early in the year to be playing Kerry but any time you play Kerry you really have to up it.
“We weren’t really focused on the result, we were more focused on the style of football we’ll be bringing to the table this year.
“The first half there wasn’t up to standard really and we were lucky to come in only down a point.
“With the national league starting in two weeks’ time, there’s a lot to work on.
“There’s a few positives to come out of this but there’s a lot more negatives.
“We’ll knuckle down and focus over the next two weeks and Westmeath at home will be a big game for us.”
