THE first thing you notice about Colin Walshe is that he has arms like tree trunks. Just before you reach the tea-rooms in Cloghan – the team’s training base – there is a Hall of Fame in the lobby area.
Eugene ‘Nudie’ Hughes is the first framed photograph that greets you. Above his picture it gives the years he won his three Allstars – 1979, ’85 and ’88. Ciaran Murray, who won his gong in 1985, is to Hughes’ left.
Ray McCarron (1986) is next along the wall. Paddy Linden (1988) and Tommy Freeman (2007) follow before a six-year gap to the next Monaghan Allstar – Conor McManus.
And last but by no means least Colin Walshe, in black bow-tie, stands proudly with his Allstar award for his summer endeavours of 2013.
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Now in his seventh year as a Monaghan senior, Walshe is more at ease with the media than he once was.
Generally recognised as the best man-marker in Malachy O’Rourke’s panel, Walshe still pops up with the odd score.
None more crucial than the point he got that beat Donegal in Castleblayney back in April and preserved Monaghan’s Division One status.
He made a successful late bid to be fit for Monaghan’s Championship campaign last year after being sidelined with the dreaded cruciate injury in late 2014.
“[Before the injury] I probably took things for granted especially just after the operations, as I couldn’t do the basic things like running and jogging and stuff… I’ve really tried to play as much football as possible.
“The club finished up at the end of November and I didn’t really take too long of a break as I was enjoying my football at that stage.
“It probably wasn’t until Monaghan were knocked out of the Championship last year that I got a full run of games with the club and playing week on week and got closer towards my best, so it’s great to be back playing football.”
Despite conquering Ulster twice out of the last three years, Monaghan have been stumped at the All-Ireland quarter-final stages three summers running.
Last year’s last-eight defeat to Tyrone was undoubtedly the bitterest pill to swallow but as soon as the players boarded the team bus and pulled out of Croke Park they were already goal-setting for 2016.
“When we left Croke Park last year, boys straight away were looking forward to getting back at it,” revealed Walshe.
“We could be playing anyone in the first round but we’re really focussing on ourselves and making sure we get back up to that level, but nothing’s easy in Ulster.”
That’s the thing. It's Down they're playing. The whipping boys of Division One. And now Ulster. Written off as no-hopers before their team bus has even crawled up Clones hill ahead of tomorrow afternoon's daunting challenge.
Sitting with his arms draped over the back of the chair, Walshe rejects the notion that the defending champions are already home and hosed.
“We probably are favourites going into the game going by Championship performances in recent years," he acknowledges.
"In the Ulster Championship there’s always a serious chance of an upset because once the ball is thrown in it’s a level playing field, you draw a line in the sand as regards to the League. You’ve seen it before in years gone by: you win your first Championship game and everything’s forgotten about."
Arguably Down's best performance in a winless League campaign came against Monaghan in February in Clones.
The visitors missed a couple of handy frees and Monaghan ran out winners with just two points to spare.
And the prospect of facing the Ulster champions, Walshe believes, is something Down will look forward to.
"Even when we were in that position ourselves a few years back we would always look to knocking the champions off their pedestal and Down will be no different.
“They’ll be looking at us and fancying that they’d love to be the team that knocks out of the Ulster Championship.
“They beat us in Ulster a few years ago [2012] by a point. We were nine points up and just didn’t get going in the second half and Down chipped away and they caught us in the last few minutes.”
Despite Walshe’s caution, the 25-year-old corner-back is confident Monaghan have the experience to deal with being favourites tomorrow.
“There probably is a lot of experience over the last couple of years and we can handle the favourites tag a bit better than maybe years gone by,” he said.
“There are a lot players that have played a lot of football and won a lot of Championship matches – we’ve only lost one Ulster Championship match [to Donegal] in the last three years – and the spine of the team hasn’t changed. So a lot of the team knows what it’s about.”
But, clearly, Monaghan’s objectives are bigger than trying to retain Ulster. They will feel they can reach the next level and push for an All-Ireland semi-final berth.
“We know where we’d like to go and we know where we fell down over the last couple of years but the way we have to approach is the way we’ve always approached it. It’s an Ulster Championship. You can only look at your first game and that’s way we’re going to be taking it and we’ll be keeping our focus. But we do know where we want to go.”
Navigating a way past Down is their first assignment on a road they hope leads back to headquarters later this summer.
