The hunt goes on.
Celtic Cross or no Celtic Cross, Michael Brick Walsh will either way go down as one of hurling’s greatest whenever he does decide to hang up his hurl.
It’s sixteen years since the Stradbally native made his debut in the Déise blue and white and he’s still going as strong now as he was in 2003.
In those sixteen years, Walsh has won four All-Stars, he’s won two Munster titles and he’s made more championship appearances than any other hurler that has gone before him.
But Brick’s legacy won’t be measured by the silverware on his mantelpiece it won’t be measured by the accolades he has to his name by the end of it. Instead, he’ll be remembered for the spirit he showed, the troops he inspired, the honesty he played the great game with.
He’s had some journey and the truest reflection of it all is that Waterford folk are still desperate for him to give it another lash. A permanent fixture on the Waterford team every day out, Walsh was their Mr. Reliable long before he hit 35 in April.
After Derek McGrath’s men were knocked out of the championship on Sunday, it all looked like it was Waterford’s most reluctant heroes’ last day out. Much of the build-up prior to the game had been focused around him and when the game was over he stayed out on the pitch like a man who was soaking it in for one last time.
But if Waterford’s 2018 was anything, it was unfulfilling. If Brick is anything, he’s durable and the lack of closure in what might have been his last season may just nag him enough to stay chasing that elusive All-Ireland medal for one more year.
That was what kept him going last year, after Waterford had lost that September decider to Galway, and The GAA Hour’s JJ Delaney wonders whether it might tempt him back for one more shot at it.
“I met him last summer in Waterford and I said to him, Jesus, ‘how are you still going?‘”
“He said to me: ‘I still don’t have that medal.’ That was his motivation, that was huge. It just struck me there and then like. You might take it for granted a small bit but he just said it straight out.
“Whether that burning desire will be there to come back again, I suppose, it’ll depend on who comes in, the new management team. I think he just needs to take a bit of time now.”
And we certainly wouldn’t want to bet against that burning desire still being there. A consummate professional, Brick has long avoided injuries. He’s fresher and fitter than most 35-year-olds, he’s undoubtedly still worth his place on the Waterford team and in the dressing room.
That's how he got to where he is today, that's what set him apart @paddypower https://t.co/FlpqnLmT9K
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 19, 2018
Let’s not forget, this is a man who hasn’t had a break from GAA in more than 15/20 years. He may just find it hard to walk away.
“Another thing you’d have to say about him as well, he’s won ten football championships with his club. That means he’s hurling all year inter-county, and then playing football for the winter as well.
“That’s no break for ten or 12 years and he just still had the appetite to come back and back and back.”
One wonders weather he’ll go to the well again.
If Walsh does decide to call time on his illustrious career in the next few months, he’ll have signed off a hero to hurlers the length and breadth of the country.
“Maybe he has the decision made in his own head but I know for a fact when I finished up in 2014, I was the last person to go off the field that day in Croke Park because I knew I was finished. Maybe he did something like that as well, just to soak it in,” added JJ.
“I seen a great picture of himself and the kid walking in hand in hand under the stand at Semple Stadium. If he does retire, that’ll be a great picture as well.”
“I’d say Derek McGrath went in and told him to go back out, he’s not that type of fella that would want the limelight, but the Waterford fans were there and there were Waterford and Cork surrounding him. It was a great thing.”
Feared by opponents, Brick is admired by them and teammates equally.
You can listen to JJ, Wooly and Michael’s thoughts on the weekend’s action right here.
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