No doubt he was a good player as well as coach-cum-administrator during his hey days, but he is just another retired hockey official biding his time in the sun and suft of twilight at 68.
That is why Walsh's presence at the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) is turning heads the wrong direction - as he has been appointed yet again, for the umpteenth time, as a 'helping hand' to guide coach Amin Rahim prepare a team for the 2023 December Junior World Cup which Malaysia will host.
Come on Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC)!
This scribe can name a handful of local officials who can help Amin, and they are all hands-down and will not run away when it gets too hot in the kitchen.
Walsh has a super record as a coach in the 90s for more than a decade, as he stood his ground and won gold for Australia and India, but then he started quitting 'because of the system'.
He quit twice from Indian hockey, and did the same to Malaysia - once during the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) era under Sultan Azlan Shah and then from MHC under Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal.
Walsh was with Malaysia when Maninderjit Singh was playing for the country and the stout defender even commented about SoJC on television, while the Australian is back to help Amin.
In 2019, he quit after Malaysia failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and the excuse was: "Apparently the National Sports Council (NSC), who were his paymasters, were forced to release him because of limited funding".
When Walsh quit, Dutchman Roelant Oltmans was roped in, but he too, left citing Covid-19, as well as being away from his family during the pandemic period, as the main reasons.
MHC did not make a special announcement on Walsh making a comeback, and his quiet presence at the SoJC was met with shock, and not the usual awe associated with him.
NOTE: The scribe has no grudge with Terry Walsh, its his professional opinion after covering hockey for two decades.
