Steve Walsh - young and experienced
Steve Walsh is in his 13th year of refereeing first class rugby. When he runs out onto Croke Park on Sunday, it will be his 25th Test, and he is not yet 35.
He started young obviously and he made progress young. He started after playing representative rugby as a schoolboy till a congenital spinal problem took him out of playing and into refereeing.
When he reached the top in 1994 there was another Steve Walsh refereeing, a tall man from down Wellington way whose nickname was Skylab. So they called the younger Steve Junior, which is now an anachronism.
Been there and done that? Yes – and he has fun and disappointment to prove it, the lot of any top referee.
Alexander the Great was 33 when he sat down and wept in frustration because he had no more worlds to conquer.
Walsh getting fed up, bored?
“No I’m not bored with it, I still really love my job. However there are times where you are isolated and not in contact with people it can become a little tiresome.
“The other thing I struggle with is in refereeing some people will only stab you in the back and not in the belly!!!! I really struggle with that concept
“If it wasn’t for the travel I’m not sure I’d still be refereeing, I really enjoy going to places like South Africa and the UK where I’ve got some great friends and love the experiences that I’ve had and with the such diverse cultures from my on.”
We asked him if he was aware of the historic nature of this first rugby match at the great Croke Park and if he had been to the ground.
“I’ve only just arrived in Ireland on Tuesday and haven’t had a chance to look around Croke Park yet but it is certainly something Kelvin Deaker (the touch judge) and I are going to do. We have been told the GAA museum at Croke is a must see to try and understand the history surrounding it so that’s on the to do list.
“There certainly appears to be more excitement about Croke Park from the feeling I get.”
Irish ancestry? “Yes, I do have Irish ancestry however I know nothing of it – typical Kiwi.”
He has refereed Ireland three times before but not refereed France in one of his Tests. So that’s new – new match on new ground.
We had two cheeky questions.
1. Are you thinking of settling down and when you get a “proper job”, what will it be?
“I’ve just started taking steps to look into that. I’ve sourced a professional to help me work out where my strengths are and what I want to do, because the end of my career is closer to me now, than it was at the beginning! So what that’ll be I’m not totally sure at this stage, but I’m really looking forward to that new part of my life.”
2. Are you behaving?
“That’s a good question isn’t it… Yes, I believe I have been. Although an article that appeared on your website earlier in the week that was factually incorrect has made my build to this weekend’s game more difficult than it needed to be. Which is especially disappointing considering what has taken place in the past?”
He will be fine.
