Having torn his hamstring off the bone, Walsh underwent surgery and then spent the remainder of the season in the Swans’ rehab group alongside Rhyce Shaw, Adam Goodes, Alex Johnson and Sam Reid.
Speaking to sydneyswans.com.au, Walsh said he was looking forward to getting back amongst the action this pre-season.
A disappointing year for you on the injury front, what did you make of your year in 2013?
Obviously it was very disappointing to have the injury and I thought I was just getting into form and getting going a bit. I suppose the serious injury was a big blow but I’m well on track to come back and I’ve been doing rehab all year. There were a few of us in the rehab group, so I had a few guys to get me through. I’m on track so hopefully I’ll be right for the start of the pre-season.
Just how frustrating was it watching the boys on field, particularly after you started the year with a few good games?
That was probably the hardest thing. The mid-week stuff you don’t miss that much, but when you go to the game and you see the boys run out there, that’s probably when it hurts the most. I was supporting them as best I could and they did really, really well considering the amount of injuries that we had throughout the squad.
You had a pretty handy rehab group, what kind of motivation did you give each other?
It was obviously a negative that there were a lot of us in there, but on the positive side we were able to push each other through. There was Sam Reid, Adam Goodes, Lewie (Roberts-Thomson), Shawy and Jetts was in there, so we were pushing each other through and it helped us. When you’re down in the rehab room on the bike or whatever, it’s good to have someone there with you that can push you through and you can race each other or whatever, so it definitely helps.
What stage are you at with your rehab?
I’ll go home and I’ll still be doing my weights to build the hamstring muscle. I’ll also be doing running at home and then when I come back I can start the quicker stuff and move into skills hopefully by December.
I’ll be right for round one, definitely.
What kind of things do you hope to work on over the pre-season other than regaining your fitness?
Probably just a bit of agility, maybe just so I can get that bit quicker off the mark and when the ball hits the ground that I’m quick to get on it. They are the biggest things and still just picking up stuff and picking up new tricks and new skills, because I’m still pretty new to the game, I suppose, so I’ll be working on a variety of things.
What are your plans for the off-season?
I’m going home for four weeks and the Indigenous Team are over there so I think Goodesy, Jetts and Tony Armstrong are going to be over, so I look forward to seeing them over there and maybe showing them a few things.
