WHEN THE SUITE of new rule were introduced to Gaelic Football, Shane Walsh immediately came to the mind of his former Galway teammate Gary O’Donnell.

All six enhancements, O’Donnell suspected, would benefit Walsh’s game given that their purpose is to promote more attacking football.

The tweaks are still being applied, but the changes have delivered for forwards like Walsh. It’s the two-point rule though, where he’s earning the major profits, clocking a total 1-37 ahead of Galway’s Round 6 meeting with Dublin.

Walsh’s accuracy from outside the 40-metre arc amounts to seven two-pointers from play, and eight from placed balls. That accounts for well over half of Galway’s 26 two-points so far.

The last of those was especially crucial as he snatched a draw against Tyrone with a late free after Malachy O’Rourke’s side were penalised for breaking the 3v3 rule.

Moreover, Walsh has scored more two-pointers than every other county in Division 1, with current table leaders Donegal the next in line with 12. Tyrone have scored 10 while Armagh, Kerry and Derry both have nine two-point scores so far. Dublin have picked up eight and Mayo have kicked seven so far from outside the arc. The remainder of Galway’s two-point scores comes to 11.

O’Donnell was in the Galway dressing room when Walsh made his breakthrough in 2013 and quickly saw the kind of range that was in his locker. Now Walsh has more opportunities to showcase it.

“The rules have reinvigorated him and given him a new pep in his step,” O’Donnell says. “I suppose the headlines of the first four or five rounds of the league have been the star forwards. It’s great because they were being stifled, bottled up and we weren’t seeing them in games.

“He was always a flair player. Most things he did were off the cuff. The way the game has gone in the last 10 years in terms of structure and how micro-managed it was, it wouldn’t have fit into his style of play.

“There’s an opportunity now to be getting space and be one-on-one with his man. It’s almost unmarkable and he’ll certainly be a headache for a teams going into the summer.”

The new rules, however, only offer a partial explanation for Walsh’s rich run of form. Consider his condition at this stage of last year’s league. An injury in the first round against Mayo forced him to miss the rest of the competition, coinciding with a severe injury crisis in the Galway camp.

At one point, 21 players were on the physio table, which in turn, left them in danger of facing relegation. They survived the drop thanks to wins over Tyrone and Monaghan, along with a draw against Roscommon.

Walsh returned for their Connacht semi-final against Sligo but injuries blighted the rest of his 2024 season. He has since admitted that he tore his quad against Mayo, which subsequently triggered other problems in his ankle and hamstring. In truth, he never fully recovered last season. He limped off in the 26th minute of their All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final against Monaghan although Galway boss Joyce was still critical of his marquee forward after the win.

“He was complaining about the ankle being a bit sore,” Joyce said at the time, “But he wasn’t giving us much up till that anyway.”

Not even the grand stage of an All-Ireland final could draw a performance that could complement the one he produced in the 2022 decider against Kerry. On that occasion, he outshone David Clifford to finish as the game’s top-scorer with 0-9 (0-4f, 0-1 ’45). Walsh could only manage one point from play in last year’s Croke Park showdown with Armagh.

“I think the big thing for Shane is that he has benefited from having an off season,” says O’Donnell while explaining the other important cause for the Walsh revival. Since joining Kilmacud Crokes in 2022, Walsh has played a key role in achieving All-Ireland success, along with an All-Ireland semi-final appearance in January 2024.

But losing the county final last year to eventual All-Ireland conquerors Cuala in October has given Walsh a much-needed break according to O’Donnell. 

“In previous years, he’s been playing with club or he’s been carrying a few niggles like he said from last year.

“He was never too fond of doing pre-seasons but having an off season has definitely helped him. He’s fresher. His work ethic is higher than it was for previous years and fatigue seems to be out of his system now.”

Galway still have Damien Comer to reintegrate in attack as they remain on course for a place in the league final. Comer’s 2024 season was also interrupted by injury as Galway were forced to find new shooters to rely when Comer and Walsh were either marked absent or off-colour.

For O’Donnell, Cillian Ó Curraoin has been a standout performer in the league. He’s been enjoying the two-point enhancement as well, kicking four in total, three of which were two-point frees against Mayo. Paul Conroy, Rob Finnerty Matthew Tierney and goalkeeper Conor Flaherty have also been successful outside the arc.

“They’ve all impressed,” says O’Donnell. “Cillian Ó Curraoin had a great start from the league and has probably benefited from playing with all the seasoned campaigners.

“Players have been coming in and out of the panel over the last 18 months, whether it’s league or championship. They’re just slotting in seamlessly.”

Facing Dublin this weekend will be a repeat of their All-Ireland quarter-final last year. That was a famous victory for Galway as they celebrated their first championship win over the Dubs since 1934, while also condemning their opponents to a first quarter-final defeat since 2009. It was also a day where Walsh showed flashes of brilliance while playing through pain. He kicked seven points overall but looked in real discomfort when he pulled up just before half-time before eventually being withdrawn in the 65th minute.

They can break further ground later this evening by ending a 15-year wait for a league victory against Dublin. The bonus would be a spot in the Division 1 final, which will take place the week before Galway fly out to play New York in their Connacht opener.

A close turnaround perhaps, but O’Donnell is confident that Galway are targeting spring silverware.

“I’d imagine they’ll be going for a league final and go to win it. Donegal are out the week later against Derry. Pádraic has said it multiple times about how long it’s been since Galway won a league campaign [1981 is the last time Galway captured the Division 1 crown]. I don’t think we can pick and choose when we win national titles. I think they’ll be going all out for it and why not? 

“There’s nobody on the management panel, never mind the players, that has a league title. So I think they’ll be going all out for that. It’ll give them a good boost going out to New York and into the championship. Sometimes people nearly look at it as a poisoned chalice with the new format but as Clare showed in the hurling last year, it gave them a great boost going into championship.”

It may still be early doors but O’Donnell accepts that there will be talk around Walsh’s Footballer of the Year credentials at this remove. Whether or not he can sustain his current form is the lingering question.

“It’s often the case when people pick All-Stars, Footballers of the Year in March or June, but Shane will be judged in the latter end of the summer – quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals. That’s where he’ll need to do it. If he kicks the lights out up to the quarter-final, and then Galway exit, people will forget about March fairly quickly.

“But if his form continues, no doubt he’ll be up there.”