A legend of the game.
He’s been there for 15 years, he’s played more championship games than anybody else, he’s won four All-Stars and three Munster titles.
He will undoubtedly go down as one of hurling’s fiercest warriors and finest gentlemen. It’s no coincidence that his name is set for the annals whenever he does eventually decide to hang up the hurl.
It’s telling that any teammate or manager who speaks about Michael Brick Walsh is always drawn first to his professionalism and to his attitude. Dedication or commitment is never a question for a man who lives and breathes to love competing.
A leader by example, the Stradbally native always seemed like one of those players who let his actions speak louder than his words. Those are the most effective type of leaders, those are the best characters and the best players and that’s why Walsh is so highly spoken of in hurling.
On Sunday, Waterford were knocked out of the championship after suffering a disappointing defeat to Cork. The hunt for that elusive ALl-Ireland medal continues for Brick, but who’d bet against the man feared and admired equally by the opposition going to the well again.
A hero. Michael Brick Walsh again shows class @WaterfordGAA @sundaysport pic.twitter.com/XimOoX7EMG
— Martin Kiely (@MartinKiely1) June 17, 2018
Kilkenny legend JJ Delaney hurled alongside the Déise stalwart during his college years in Waterford IT and even back then, even amongst a group of hurlers from the best counties in Ireland, it was Brick who set the tone. It was Brick who stood out.
“I hurled with him down in W.I.T in Fitzgibbon games as well, you kind of got first hand of how he trains more than anything. You just step back and look at him and go, ‘Jesus, this is the standard.'”
For a man man like JJ Delaney, a seven-time All-Star, a nine-time All-Ireland winner to be blown away by a man’s manic drive and instaiable intensity – that tells a story in itself.
“He was setting the standrard back then,” continued JJ.
“He was just a phenomenal player. He was a team player, he’d always do the right thing with it. It doesn’t matter if he ever scored at all, once he was doing the best thing for the team.
“He was one of our vital players in the Fitzgibbon, we won a few Fitzgibbons with him. He was in midfield and he was just everywhere in the games.”
Longevity has obviously been the key. That also, is no coincidence. Colm Parkinson struck on a good point during The GAA Hour Show when he claimed that Brick’s avoidance of injuries, an avoidance that saw him start 51 championship games in a row for his county, is a testament to his own commitment rather than luck.
“It was actually Dan Shanahan who was saying, ‘yeah, he’s never injured, but that’s not luck. That’s down to how he looked after his body and how he prepared, trained, stretched and recovered.
“You can complain about getting injured but when I look back on it, you’d ask yourself, ‘did I stretch right?’ A lot of your injuries, are you really preparing the way you should have. If you’re honest with yourself, did I do the rolling instead of watching tv?”
Brick was honest to himself. That’s why he’s one of the games most revered.
You can listen to JJ, Wooly and Michael’s thoughts on the weekend’s action right here.
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