​By Tommy Walsh

The best game I ever played came after watching the warrior Larry Murphy in action for Wexford.

I was all booked to travel to England to a theme park for a few days with my cousins, but there was one problem - we had James Stephens in an under 14 league match on the Monday.

I was never out of the country before and wouldn’t be again for another six and a half years, but there was no way I was missing a tussle with 'The Village'.

The 1996 Leinster final was on the day before it – Wexford v Offaly. Both teams gave exhibitions and the atmosphere was electric.

It was one of those games where you just wanted it to end so you could go out and play a game against your brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends in the back garden.

And then there was Larry Murphy. What a game he had!

It was all topped off by the commentator saying Larry Murphy would put his head in where other guys wouldn't put their hurls.

If you had seen Larry in that game you would just nod in approval listening to that comment.

Luckily for me, we had James Stephens the following night. There was nothing for it only to put your head in where other guys wouldn't put their hurls. Just like Larry.

A ball came in between the full forward and myself and I lost my hurl. Perfect. Here was my chance to be Larry Murphy.

As the full forward hit the ball I dived in and blocked him with my hands. A better feeling than any point I scored in Croker.

The joy I took out of that game and out of that block was better than any rush I would have gotten on a rollercoaster in England.

With the last play of the game the full-forward got inside me and shot for goal, but my luck was in – it hit the cross-bar. We drew the game and it was a major result for us against the town team.

That is Wexford. That is the effect they have on you.

They are so passionate and so energetic it is infectious. If there are 50,000 in Croke Park Sunday it will feel like 100,000.

I can't wait for Sunday. Leinster Hurling Final Sunday. It brings back so many great memories both as a player and young supporter.

As I grew up, both Wexford and Galway had great teams at different stages.

Wexford – the first team I saw play without bands on their hurls.

Martin Storey - the first man I saw to point a side-line cut.

Big George O Connor ruling the skies catching anything came near him.

Billy Byrne the super sub who came on and had a huge impact every time.

And those wonderful moustaches! Hurlers and style icons!

I was on the wrong end of some Wexford magic myself when Mick Jacob’s block and goal put us out of Leinster in ‘04.

That stung like hell at the time but now I can appreciate it for what it was - a combination of skill and a never-say-die attitude that won a match in the most dramatic way possible.

Galway have given so much to hurling people too.

Joe Connolly’s 'People of Galway, we love you’ speech would touch your heart strings.

Joe McDonagh singing 'West Awake'. Glorious.

Joe Cooney and Galway in that first half in the 1990 All Ireland. Flawless.

To perform like that in an All Ireland Final, it was unbelievable really, a lesson for any young hurler. That TV Ad where he dosed a bullock was fairly special too!

Padraig Kelly's Man of the Match performance in the '93 All-Ireland and that moment of magic he produced when he dived and controlled the ball with an unbelievable piece of skill.

Big Joe Rabbitte’s aerial ability, Eugene Cloonan’s finishing power.

I grew up watching the great Galway clubs Sarsfields and Athenry win All-Irelands, and then Portumna came along and raised the bar to an even higher level.

Galway are one of those teams that can produce spectacular moments of skill on any given day like David Burke’s point in the 2012 Leinster Final and Joe Canning’s goal in the 2015 Leinster Final.

Just like Wexford, Galway are a proud hurling tribe, and that’s why I’m so excited about what this Leinster Final on Sunday could produce.

Galway will need steeliness of that 80's team, the consistency of that Portumna club team, and that bit of luck that all winning teams need to win on Sunday and reach the final destination they seek in September.

For Wexford, they will need the bravery of Larry Murphy, the skills of that 90's team, the never-say-die attitude of Mick Jacob, and maybe even a super sub like Billly Byrne to bring back the Bob O’Keeffe to Slaney-side.

The one thing I feel has been holding Galway back for many years is the fear of losing.

The fear of losing is an amazing feeling, really.

As a champion, it can drive you on to achieve incredible things. It can bring a razor-like focus. It can push you to train harder and faster. It can give you a hunger to win every ball.

When you lose form it drives you to rediscover that form. When you’re down by two points it drives you to win by two points. When you’re up by four it pushes you to win by six.

However, for a team that is used to losing, it can drag you down. It can weigh on you like a ton of bricks.

You’re two points up with 10 minutes left and you are praying for the final whistle. You end up losing.

You are 4 points up at half time and confidence is at an all-time high only for a goal to go against you and suddenly the team’s body language is like a crowd at a funeral. You end up losing.

You are 4 points down at half time and end up been beaten by 10.

That's the fear of losing for a team that is used to losing.

In my opinion, Galway have been held back in the past by a fear of losing.

They got themselves in a good position to beat Kilkenny in both the 2012 and 2015 All-Ireland Finals, but seized up when the game was there to be won.

How do you lose that fear? How do you rid the team of this terrible disease?

In my opinion there is only one way - think like a champion.

Or, better again, don't think at all. Because when champions receive setbacks in that second half they don't think about the result. They don't think about their chance been gone.

They think about winning the next ball. Getting the next point. They think about giving their direct opponent hardship for the remainder of the game.

They have that inner belief that it will work out in the end. That if they stay winning the ball somebody will make it count.

What allows the champions hurl like this? They have won before. They proved to themselves that they can do it. They proved to everyone else they can do it.

They don't have that pressure hanging over them. It allows them to hurl like they are in the back garden.

So, my message to Galway on Sunday and for the rest of the year would be to forget the papers. Forget the social media. Forget any TV programme where Galway are discussed.

If your neighbour wants to talk to you about how this is Galway’s year, politely give them your best wishes and tell them you have to be somewhere else.

Anytime the full-time whistle comes into your day-dreams banish them. Get busy doing something else.

The great thing about sport is you can change everything today. In the 2015 all Ireland final Galway went into their shell in the last 25 minutes.

In 2017 Galway can fight like warriors in that last 25 mins. It's up to them.

My advice to both Galway and Wexford on Sunday is to live in the moment.

To think like Champions or don't think at all.

---

Kilkenny can kick-start a new era in Nowlan Park on Saturday

Watching Kilkenny play Limerick in tomorrow's All-Ireland Qualifier in Nowlan Park will bring back some nice memories for me.

Our 2013 All-Ireland Qualifier win over Tipperary in a packed Nowlan Park was one of the really special days.

The Kilkenny crowd just got behind the team 100 per cent, it was like playing a Champions League knock-out match at home.

That 2013 match was basically an All-Ireland Final without being an All-Ireland Final.

We were after having a few great victories over Tipperary over the course of the previous few years and we were after getting beaten Dublin the previous week so we were on a bit of a downer.

Then the draw was made and we had Tipperary. And no matter what we had done previously we felt that if we were to be beaten on our home patch in such a big Championship game that it would have taken away a lot from those other victories.

Tipperary would have always had that over us - that they beat us in in Nowlan Park.

Had that happened, it might have spelled the end of that Kilkenny team, so there was massive, massive intensity surrounding that match.

For years Kilkenny supporters were telling us we owed them nothing.

But before that game the neighbours would be coming up to you saying, 'We need you to win one more, this is the last time we'll ask you to win for us. Whatever you do, don't lose to Tipperary in Nowlan Park'.

It was just an incredible occasion and it's grand to look back on it now after winning, but if we had lost that match it would have been one of the worst memories of our careers.

It was a red-letter day for us back then, and this match against Limerick on Saturday is something similar for the younger players in this Kilkenny panel.

When you go through the current players in that panel, they have the ability to beat any team. They can beat any of the All-Ireland contenders out there.

They just need a bit of confidence because they look to be lacking it at the moment.

Most of these young players are after replacing guys that won multiple All-Irelands, but we need to stop harking back to the past, we need to live in the present and look to the future.

The Kilkenny people - management and supporters - need to get behind these young players.

They have won All-Ireland Colleges and All-Ireland Minor Finals, so there's no doubting they're talented hurlers.

At senior, they just need that little bit of confidence, and that's why this is such a massive match for them.

If they win a Championship match in front of their own supporters in Nowlan Park, then they'll get huge confidence from it.

And when you combine talent with confidence, anything is possible.

---