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14th January 2015
08:25am GMT

The Kanturk clubman of course has two county colleagues to look forward to playing with, one of whom will be the Cork captain for 2015-Anthony Nash. Walsh feels the goalkeeper will be a good leader for the Rebels but that everyone must take some responsibility for leadership on the pitch-not just one man,
'He's been around since '06 and he's been through a lot. He was third choice, then second choice and then third choice again and now he's established himself as one of the best keepers around and he's a very good talker and people listen. But every player has to be leader on the pitch and every player has to take responsibility.'
Discussion of Nash brings us neatly to one of the major talking points already of the inter county season which is barely two weeks old.
As a hurley maker has Walsh been getting any special orders for extra large bas' on hurls for his playing colleagues? And what about his thoughts on the controversial new rule for penalties?
'We saw the first penalty in the Canon (O'Brien game between Cork and UCC) game last week and if you place it into the corner it's nearly impossible for the 'keeper to save. The big thing now is that 'keepers will have to guess themselves before the shot is taken. I could see keepers getting bigger bas' to give them another bit of an advantage.'
The new change has caused controversy with none of the three penalties awarded over last weekend in the Walsh Cup or Waterford Crystal competitions being scored. Walsh admits that the decision by the GAA has turned the whole issue of penalties on their head and may also see players trying to con referees into awarding the sanction:
'It could be gone the other way. It was unfair on the team that won the penalty last year but it could be, I won't say unfair to the team that concedes the penalty, but the advantage should be with the attacking team. You might see forwards going down a bit easier if they're going through as well. Refs will have to look at it that players aren't diving because it's a massive advantage now to win a penalty with the new rule.'
If anyone could talk about being an 'indentured slave' then Walsh trying to please two masters in both hurling and football last year should be able to tell a few tales. He doesn't agree with Joe Brolly's comments but does admit that the level required by players to compete at the very top of GAA is a massive workload.
'If you don't put in five or six nights a week training at full tilt you'll fall behind and you wont be there in August and September. Last year I enjoyed it, it's all about playing and being involved and there are hundreds and hundreds of players down in Cork who would love to be in the same position.'
Walsh says players still have the choice whether to put the work in or not and the idea that playing GAA for your county is a form of slavery is one he firmly dismisses,
'It's a lot of commitment and effort to put into it but there is no-one holding a gun to your head, there's no one forcing us to play. It's our own decision, if he thinks we're slaves that's his opinion.'
Walsh made his debut for Cork against Kerry at age 19 and is preparing for a Fitzgibbon cup campaign next month as he completes his final year degree in Business at CIT. He doesn't agree with a recent proposal from Cathal Cregg of Roscommon that would see all inter county players unavailable of the Fitzgibbon or Sigerson
The 24-year-old thinks the competitions would lose something without the best players and also that third level has a direct benefit for inter county set up's:
'It's a good stepping stone to inter county. It's hard hurling and conditions are bad but you get a good base and I think if you have good 'Fitz campaign it's a good lead up to your championship campaign. Even with CIT alone Mark Ellis, Bill Cooper and John O'Dwyer had good campaigns in the 'Fitz and it showed in the championship they played well. It's a fixed championship-you know your dates, you know your schedule and that's one benefit compared to inter county championship.'
Walsh is hoping he has a few more years left playing at the top level but realises that he has to enjoy it as much as he can while he has the chance.
'You only have for so long, you think you're a young fella and then you're coming to the last few years . You never know when you coud get a bad injury and it could be all over. You might be in the stand looking in. We're training in CIT later and it's going to be the third pitch and pure muck but that's the enjoyment of it.'
Aidan Walsh was speaking to SportsJOE as part of the launch of the ESB EnergyFit Launch.Explore more on these topics: