In the wake of Waterford hurler Wayne Hutchinson speaking out about his battle with depression, Michael 'Brick' Walsh has called on the media to respect players' efforts on the field of play.

'Brick' had no inkling that his Deise team-mate was struggling with the ailment and he told the Irish Daily Star: "At the end of the day, from a player point of view, we are all going out trying to do our best. There is no point in slating a person.

"At the end of the day I'm trying my best marking a fella that is the best in his county - some days it goes for him and some days it goes for you.

"So you can't be too negative towards a person. You can't cut up a person because they are all trying their best.

"That's a thing, you don't know what is going on with a person and you have to be realistic when it comes to that."

The Stradbally clubman believes that Hutchinson and other GAA players who have gone public with their stories of battling depression have helped create a greater public awareness about the condition.

"In fairness it is a very prevalent thing at the moment and it is a tough situation for anyone to be facing into.

"You'd have to commend them on openly coming out and going into that much detail.

"You'd have to commend him on coming out and talking openly because at the moment it is a very stigmatised condition.

"Not a lot of people are talking about it, so it is good for people to know that other people are suffering from such things." Tweet

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