Walsh either hasn’t played, started or has been withdrawn in six of Galway’s nine championship games and has at times looked hampered by a groin injury that ruled him out of much of the league.
But he continues to manage. “I’ve had that the last couple of games. I wouldn’t feel there’s any difference,” he said.
“People are trying to tell me I am getting old so I am hoping to try and defy that a bit,” he laughed.
“There is never a time when any player is probably 100 pc fit and if you are you are probably not doing enough. Look, you pick up scars in the game over time. It’s just about getting out there in an All-Ireland semi-final that is there to be won.”
His assessment of his own afternoon in Donegal’s company, before being withdrawn, was that he “got through it.”
His preparation had been “tailored to what I could do and what I couldn’t do. You are doing whatever you can, recovery, everything like that to get back on the field.”
Galway are into a second All-Ireland final in three years and Walsh thinks that experience has and can count in their favour in pursuit of a first title since 2001.
“It’s a small part,” he said of going through 2022. “You are probably ticking boxes and that’s probably a box that’s ticked. At the same time, it’s a new game and Armagh could bring something new to the table.
“You don’t know on the given day what can happen. With Paul’s (Conroy) goal going in, that could happen. It’s like Mike Tyson said, it’s all good having a game plan until you get the punch in the mouth and the next thing you have to kind of react to it.”
Walsh admitted a key factor in taking out Donegal was how they were able to park the Dublin win so quickly.
Manager Padraic Joyce recalled, after Sunday’s win, how they conducted a recovery session in the sea in Blackrock in Salthill on the morning after the Dublin game and then adjourned to former Galway defender Finian Hanley’s coffee shop for breakfast before moving on.
“Obviously the noise around us was obviously loud because everyone was on ‘high doh’ after beating Dublin,” said Walsh.
“For us as a group we knew it was just another step and we could use this as a huge boost of confidence going into the rest of the year. That’s the way it panned out.
“If we want to be serious about things, you have to get over that game and move onto the next one.
“It was the quarter-final of an All-Ireland championship. Yes, we took out Dublin, but whoever was there we had to take them out regardless of who it was.”
Walsh feels Galway are a more rounded team than two years ago with different players stepping up on different days to steer them through.
“Dylan (McHugh) against Donegal, Cillian (McDaid) the last day, Paul (Conroy) in the Monaghan game, Damo (Comer) against Mayo, Rob (Finnerty) against Sligo,” said Walsh.
“I could keep going on. That’s the way it’s been all year. That’s the sign of a good team that it’s not relying on any one individual.”
