By John Harrington

You know that something has changed with Galway football when you spend some time in Shane Walsh’s company and hear him repeat words like ‘structures’ and ‘processes’ again and again.

When Walsh first burst onto the scene with Galway five years ago he was the ultimate free-spirited player.

One who regularly produced outrageous moments of skill and flair, but who was also capable of drifting in and out of matches.

To some extent, he was emblematic of Galway football around that time – lots of ability and potential, but flawed with a lack of consistency.

Flair and structure might be polar opposites in some respects, but when you can combine both and get them complementing one another, then it can be a potent fusion.

That’s what Kevin Walsh’s Galway footballers have managed so far this year.

They’re playing a more defensive brand of football than in some respects gives a forward like Walsh less freedom to express himself.

But the counter-attacking game-plan also seems to be channelling his pace, power, and finishing ability in a more focused manner than simply giving him the licence to do his own thing did in the past.

“Since Kevin has come in with the structures he has put in place and the processes we are following, it's great really for the group because you're learning all the time and you're understanding what you're doing,” says Walsh.

“Whereas before it was nearly like a free for all because when you're coming in as young lads you're thrown in and it's just a case of 'we'll see how he goes'.

“If it goes well, it's great. But if it doesn't, then it can be pretty damaging for the confidence of a young player going forward.

“Luckily enough we now have a structure in place that we have been building for the last three or four years.

“The first two years we were changing the panel a lot, players were coming in and out, whereas now we're getting more of a settled side and a greater panel depth. I've never seen our panel to be as strong as it is at the moment.

“It's great. We've changed the team up during the League and we've seen similar performances and results and it's great to be coming out on top in these games.”

Former Tyrone, Down, and Derry coach, Paddy Tally, has come on board this year and many have credited him with implementing the counter-attacking strategy that has seen Galway go unbeaten in the League and reach Sunday’s Final against Dublin.

Walsh admits that Tally’s ‘fresh voice’ and ‘wealth of experience’ has been a major asset for the team this year.

But he doesn’t agree that Galway’s style of play changed with Tally’s arrival, rather that the players are only now fully familiar with the game-plan that manager Kevin Walsh has been trying to implement for the past few years.

“The biggest thing is that lads are understanding what we're doing,” said Walsh.

“When you put a system in place it's alright to say 'that's the system of play', but do lads understand the system? Do they really know where they should be at any given time?

“That's the big thing with the group. Lads understand it a bit better.

“Before you might perform a bit out of luck and then the next day you wouldn't, myself included, because I wouldn't have been a big one on the whole structures, and that.

“But you buy into it and you keep learning all the time. That's the big one for me. I'm understanding it better and the group as a whole is understanding more and more the structures we have in place and the process that we're following.

“It's great for us, you're following a solid process and it's helping us compete against the Division One teams.

“Week in week out, we're doing the same thing over and over again, and that's great for the group. Lads are beginning to understand it, and I think there's a lot more to come from the group.

“But we know too what we've produced so far won't be good enough going into the Championship.

“We can't look back on the League and say 'we did it there'. We have to keep churning it out, keep training away, and keep looking for areas to improve.”

They’ll know exactly where they stand by the time the final whistle blows on Sunday’s Allianz League Final against Dublin.

It was honours even when the two teams met in a ferociously contested match in Salthill, but Walsh knows trying to get the better of Dublin in a national final in Croke Park is a different proposition altogether.

It’s one he and the rest of this Galway team are excited about rather than unnerved by, though.

“We know there's a different Dublin side going to come up against us in Croke Park on Sunday.

“That's what we're all gearing towards. We're all gearing towards this big day on Sunday and really looking forward to it. It's everyone's first big day out in Croke Park against Dublin in front of a big attendance.

“It'll allow us to judge where the bar is at and whether we're getting close to Dublin or not.

“You have to relish it. It's a Final, a national spectacle.”