KAHLIA HAS DIVIDED LOYALTIES
JAMAL’S COACH (JIMMY LENIHAN) DEFINITELY GIVES ME A LOT OF BANTER EVERY TIME I SEE HIM AFTER THE GAME
TWEED’S KAHLIA WALSH
TWEED Seagulls rookie Kahlia Walsh has a pretty good excuse to be cheering on her club’s arch-rivals Burleigh in the upcoming Intrust Super Cup Gold Coast derby.
Walsh’s long-time partner Jamal Fogarty is a pivotal cog at halfback in the Bears’ powerhouse squad.
Fogarty is a former Seagull but has been with the Bears since the start of 2016, either side of a short stint with Parramatta.
Walsh, 25, meanwhile has begun donning Tweed’s black and white colours after she and friend Teagan Hartigan were talked into joining the club’s South East Queensland Division 1 side midway through this season.
“We have always wanted to play footy together,” Walsh said with reference to Hartigan. We have both got two kids so the timing has just never matched up for us both, like we have just been busy with whatever else is going on.
“Teagan plays touch with Tarryn (Aiken), the halfback for Tweed, and she said, ‘we’re low on numbers, do you want to come and have a run?’
“So we just went down to training on the Tuesday night and then we got told that night that we were going to be playing on the weekend.”
It’s a chain of events that Walsh, a regular Oztag player, is glad has panned out.
“I love it. I just wish that I played earlier but I’m really enjoying it,” she said.
“My pop actually used to be the strength and conditioning coach at Seagulls like 20 years ago and both of my uncles played at Seagulls. It’s good to play there and know that they have all played there too.”
Asked who he thinks Walsh will be supporting when Tweed host Burleigh on July 14 in Round 17 of the ISC, Fogarty said: “I think that’s an easy one, only because she’s new. Down the track she might grow a bit apart maybe.”
Walsh confirmed: “I can’t not go for Jamal. We’ve been at Burleigh for a few years now and it’s a great club, they’re always very welcoming.”
That doesn’t mean she’s off the hook when it comes to banter, though.
“Jamal’s coach (Jimmy Lenihan) definitely gives me a lot of banter every time I see him after the game,” she laughed.