“He brought an energy, he brought a dynamic that is immeasurable,” said McGrath. “You have to see it first-hand, work with it to realise it. He also brought a crucial ingredient that everyone involved in elite sport needed: he brought perseverance.

“Ahead of the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final, I think he was playing in his 12th All-Ireland semi-final having only won one previously in 2008. He’s just such a good person as well.

He’s such a warrior but he’s such a good person as well in how he lives his life. This is the true definition of what a role model is, and I don’t think he gets enough credit over the years for his guile, for his craft, for his timing to set up scores and for his versatility.

McGrath, who spoke to Walsh but revealed he wasn’t prepared to talk about his decision, also acclaimed the 36-year-old’s modesty.

“Even when we were going away, he’d ask to put in with the young lad and it wasn’t just a case of passing on experience but he brought a great sense of fun at the tail-end of his career.”

Fitzgerald admired how Walsh always put the team first. “He wasn’t a normal centre-back that would get ball and beat it down the field. Everything had to have a reason with Brick. 90% of the ball Brick gave was a flick forward to a player in a good position.

I’m a great believer in that there has to be an end product to a ball and Brick was always able to give it to a man.

“Brick could be quite enough but you could have the craic with him, which was great. The big thing about him was when he spoke everybody listened. I often had chats with him and everything would be for the betterment of the team. He’d always take an instruction and 100% do what was right for them.”

His first senior manager McCarthy hailed his strength among other things. “He was a treasure, to be honest, to manage and to be involved with. A great guy, a great attitude. Mentally and physically very strong. A great team player, a leader on the field who the opposition respected. He was a deceiving player, he had great vision and was totally calm when playing.

“I never saw him knocked down by anyone.

People say about Christy Ring that they never saw him knocked to the ground - I never saw Brick Walsh knocked to the ground either.

"He could forage for that ball and come out with it in his hand. He was totally committed and very clued-in in the game.”

McCarthy recalled a game in Ennis. “I said afterwards, ‘Michael, you played great.’ I looked down at his hand and said, ‘Did you get a belt in the hand?’ ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘I broke the finger there last week.’ Now, if a fella broke his finger today he could be out for a month.”