Kilkenny IHC Preview- Tullogher Rosbercon's Walter Walsh delighted to be back at Intermediate level

Tullogher-Rosbercon will bounce into this year’s intermediate championship campaign as All-Ireland junior champions and will be a huge threat to anyone that comes in their way.

Led in the forwards by Kilkenny star Walter Walsh, Tullogher are back where they feel they belong.

“We are back where we wanted to be at the start of last year and this is where we want to be playing,” he said.

“We were a long time in junior, I think four or five years and it’s very competitive down there as it is up here so we are just delighted to be at this grade.”

While the side in black and amber certainly enjoyed their journey around the country over the winter months, they always had one eye on this year’s club championship and they feel refreshed ahead of what’s to come.

“The lads were eased back into training after the All-Ireland win and a lot of them would have been playing football as we’ve a lot of dual players but they enjoyed the break as well.

“We had lads away that are back now too so we kind of have everyone on board bar a few injuries,” the 33 year-old school teacher said.

Being the promoted team into a grade that is famous for its competitiveness, maintaining their safety will have been one their objectives and they did that with relative ease.

“You want to stay up and the last time we were at Intermediate, we finished fifth in the league group and then ended up losing the following two games and we were relegated then as a result.

“It was good to tick off our safety early on but we don’t really look past the next match and that’s how we approach it and our manager emphasises that a lot.”

Tullogher go into this weekend on the back of a decent league showing but Walsh and his teammates know that a much stiffer test awaits them as knockout championship hurling comes into view.

“We’re not getting carried away with how the league went as we are very conscious that it’s a very different competition to the championship,” he said.

“The championship is a different ball game but it’s good for the young lads to gain a bit of confidence.

“Our whole panel is extremely young and there’s a great spirit in the group as well which is really important as the lads love going training and they give everything in the matches and you can’t ask any more than that.

“They are improving game on game and we’ve even had four new lads come up to the senior squad this year and they’ve made the whole setup more competitive which is what you want,” Walsh continued.

Hear more from Walter Walsh on the Kilkenny People Sport Podcast below: