Conor Burke: 'Everybody's playing for Niall Ó Ceallacháin as our leader'

Irish Examiner

9 hours ago

There are few more awkward positions to be in than accepting a man of the match award after a defeat but Conor Burke wore it well 13 months ago.
Cork won that All-Ireland quarter-final by five points. Burke had been Dublin's top scorer from play with four points and given an account of himself almost as good as he did against Limerick in this year's equivalent game when he was again the pick of the bunch.
Of course, beating Limerick have given this group the belief that they can make the county's first All-Ireland senior hurling final in 64 years but in that loss to Cork in Thurles there was plenty of encouragement too.
'I suppose there was a sense of missed opportunity,' recalls Burke. 'It was our shooting efficiency that let us down, I wouldn't pinpoint it on maybe just one individual. I think I myself had a 50% conversion. I scored four points and I missed four.
"So even from that side of things, it was not just one person who missed shots that maybe they should have scored or whatever the case might be. I think that performance will give you confidence that you're able to compete and kind of push them as far as we did even last year.'
That performance came under Micheál Donoghue and now with Na Fianna man Niall Ó Ceallacháin at the helm Burke speaks of the power in a native Dubliner, a native All-Ireland senior club winning Dublin manager, being in charge. "I think Niall is brilliant. He's a great manager, really well-organised, has a brilliant team with him, a brilliant team of Dublin clubmen behind him.
'There's a great sense of unity there within the team, everybody's playing for him as our leader from Dublin. And I think he's leading the way and everybody's kind of got behind him and put the shoulder to the wheel and is really pushing hard.
"I think there's a lot of personal connection with Neily there. The Na Fianna lads have been playing under him for a number of years and they know him really well, he knows all the club scene really well from analysis and whatnot.'
Burke celebrates at the final whistle after Dublin beat Limerick Limerick at Croke Park File picture: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Players like Conor McHugh, 31 and in his first season with the hurlers after his forays with the footballers, and Burke's St Vincent's club-mate John Hetherton, 32, have defied the odds with some fine displays this year. Another Marino club man Rian McBride is lining out for Dublin for the first time since 2022 having been in Australia up to last year.
'Hedger's brilliant, he's obviously a good mate of mine,' smiles Burke. 'I've played with him for years and he's been haunting teams in the Dublin championship for years now, he's been probably the player of the club championship for years. So, it's great to see him really get his opportunity this year.
'I think he's been kind of in and out of the team in terms of getting game time over the last few years, but he's really getting an opportunity this year and he's grabbing it with both hands. So no surprises to see him being brilliant and I'm delighted for him. Hopefully, he can keep it going.
'Conor obviously wasn't involved for the last couple of years because of the football. He would have had the ability to play for the hurlers, nine or 10 years ago, if he chose to put his hat in the hurling ring. There's lots of talent in Dublin hurling, no better men to unlock it or recognise it than the lads who have been watching the club scene for years now.'
As they were for most of that famous win over Limerick, Dublin will be without captain Chris Crummey on Saturday. Burke feels the group can tap into their character again facing Cork.
'There's obviously resilience in the panel and lots of hunger, most importantly. I think that's why we keep coming back, because we want silverware. There's not many in the panel that were on the last Dublin team that tasted silverware (in 2013).
'There's a lot of belief that there's a huge talent in the dressing room, and that if we can bring the levels of performance that we know we're capable of, we can put it up to any team on any given day as you've seen, not just (v Limerick), but with a variety of different teams over a lot of years.'
* eir hurling ambassador Conor Burke was on hand as eir announced a major milestone in its network transformation – Ireland's No1 5G Network Availability award for the fifth year in a row.