Irish Echo Sport

St Kilda Football Club has signed 21 year old Kerry star Tommy Walsh.

The Club has signed Walsh, one of Ireland’s most credentialed Gaelic Athletic Association players, as an international rookie for two years.

Standing at 195cm and weighing 95kgs, Walsh demonstrates a strong brand of bustling Gaelic football, where he has outstanding pace and agility for a player of his size.

A talented and dominant forward in the GAA, Walsh recently competed in the winning All Ireland final for County Kerry, scoring four points and was also the winner of the 2008 GAA Young Player of the Year.

A player of Walsh’s calibre is a significant coup for the Saints and the Club believes he can effectively make the transition to play AFL football and be an exciting prospect in 2010 and beyond.

Ironically, Tommy Walsh is the most likely Irishman to emulate Tadhg Kennelly’s feat of winning both an All Ireland and an AFL Premiership.

St Kilda General Manager Football – List Management, Matthew Drain said, “Tommy Walsh is one of the most credentialed players to come out of Ireland. While he faces hard work to adapt to AFL at the highest level, we are confident that what we have seen of him proves he has enormous talent to become an important player for St Kilda.

Essentially, we see that Tommy Walsh, in addition with Andrew Lovett, has taken place as a first round draft pick, based on his size, ability and credentials.”