'He's the king, a brilliant leader' - Galway star in All-Ireland bid after cruciate

THE 2019 GALWAY SENIOR  hurling quarter-final between St Thomas’ and Tommy Larkins needed nine minutes of injury-time to decide a winner.

David Burke in action for St Thomas’ in 2019.

The Larkins outfit were seeking a place in the final four of the competition for the first time since 1982. St Thomas’ were the defending county champions, who had contested the All-Ireland final a few months earlier. Galway forward Jason Flynn fronted the Larkins charge with a tally of ten points.

A core truth about the club championships is that teams tend to encounter the toughest challenges within their county. St Thomas’ have rarely known a day without trouble from Galway opposition.

And in that quarter-final against Tommy Larkins, when a greater effort was needed to reach down into those reserves, they stepped up.

David Burke lined up a sideline about 35 yards out from goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time. A leader answering the call.

“We were under the cosh and he put a sideline over the bar,” says former Limerick boss TJ Ryan, who joined the Thomas’ backroom team in 2018.

“Huge moments. If you look back at his career to even the Fitzgibbon Cup, Leinster finals, All-Ireland finals, he was huge on the big days. Big players produce big moments at the right time and that’s him to a tee because he was excellent in those games.”

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The headlines flashed up on screens in March of last year announcing the worst possible news for David Burke. A torn cruciate at training to condemn him to the sidelines for the rest of the season. Playing any further part in the inter-county season was certainly out of the question, and his club season was in considerable doubt.

Most athletes don’t make a return to contact sport from such a distressing injury for at least nine to 12 months. Some never do. The 2017 All-Ireland-winning captain was back on the field within seven months, making a substitute appearance in both the county semi-final against Sarsfields and the final victory over Turloughmore.

Those two brief displays were followed by promotion as a late starter ahead of Evan Duggan in the All-Ireland semi-final against Ballygunner, where he banked 80 minutes in a game that went to extra-time and penalties.

“He came on for a small cameo role in the [county] semi-final, and they were able to mind him for the final, just bringing him on for a late role,” says Ryan, impressed with Thomas’ patient approach to reintegrating Burke to the starting team.

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“They got him right for the All-Ireland semi-final to start him and he came up with a huge score.

“They had a full deck the last day against Ballygunner. To have everyone on the pitch getting over that will give them huge confidence.”

TJ Ryan pictured before the 2020 All-Ireland final semi-final between St Thomas’ and Tipperary’s Borris-Illeigh.

That score from Burke was a long-range effort just before half-time to send Thomas’ into the dressing room with a 1-10 to 2-5 lead. Another big moment that resonates with Ryan’s insight from the three seasons that he worked with Burke.

Burke’s game is mainly characterised by his work-rate, link play and stamina. But he frequently scratches his name onto the scoresheet too. He made a scoring return in three out of their six county finals, including the 2023 decider where his input was significantly limited. And in the 2017 All-Ireland final, he chalked up four points in a man-of-the-match performance. The ultimate captain’s role.

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Ryan was initially hesitant about joining St Thomas’ in 2018 as he was also managing his home club Garryspillane at the time. But he eventually gave in. Burke and the other cast of red and blue stars were among the factors that persuaded him to get in his car and head up the motorway.

“When you get an opportunity to work with fellas like David Burke, Conor Cooney and all the others that are on the Galway squad, you wouldn’t need to twist my arm to go up there. You look forward to working with those kind of players.

“It’s about an hour and a half drive from my house in Garryspillane. They had [manager] Kevin Lally on board who was a young, ambitious guy. He asked me to come on board and I just fell in love with the group.

“I saw someone who was as mad and ambitious as myself. I could feel it off them and I really got on well with them. No different to my own club: hurling and farming is what we do. I identified with them and it’s a very close-knit relationship between the families.”

Ryan already knew Burke was a leader in the hurling club long before he arrived. A winner of four All-Stars, his legacy with Galway was also cemented by that point too. Ryan puts Burke alongside Joe Canning as one of Galway’s greatest in that regard.

“Maybe at times he flew under the radar and Joe took the gloss away from him,” Ryan argues.

David Burke and Joe Canning after winning the 2017 All-Ireland final.

His ability as a hurler was always clear. But through his visits to the parishes of Peterswell and Kilchreest, Ryan also discovered the scale of Burke’s impact in the community. A crucial part of the local fabric.

“He’s the king. When David says something, you listen firstly and then you act. He’s a brilliant leader, a teacher by trade and that comes across in the way he deals with people. He’s really good with all the players. He’s brilliant at helping a coach to understand where a player is at.

“He’s really good with the youngsters and a really good driver at training and in the dressing room. He’s everything you’d want in a player.”

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Ryan found himself surrounded by kindred spirits during his time at St Thomas.’ He’ll be calling in for another visit this weekend to attend an Up For The Match event as the locals prepare for the All-Ireland final against O’Loughlin Gaels of Kilkenny. His ties to the region are clearly still strong.

This isn’t the club’s first rodeo of course. They became hurling kingpins for the first time in 2013 and returned to the final again in 2019 where they were consumed by an awesome Ballyhale Shamrocks team. Ryan was an eye witness on the Thomas’ sideline that day.

“One of my colleagues at work reminded me about memories being beautiful. What’s too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget,” he says, treating the unfortunate events of that day with humour.

Thomas’ will go to Croke Park this time as favourites. Burke is one of six survivors of the class of 2013.

Looking at his potential role against O’Loughlin Gaels, Ryan anticipates that he will read the strategy of the opposition first and get into position to exert his influence.

“His brain is one of his strongest assets, and by God he has a lot of them. He’s able to see where the game is going. We don’t know in terms of match-ups who’s going to pick up who. Thomas’ will probably play with two up top. Will Huw Lawlor be inside or will he jump out to pick up Conor Cooney and allow Paddy Deegan to tag out towards the middle of the field?

“David will definitely be watching that type of stuff to see how they’re playing and what can he do to counteract that?

“That’s one of his biggest strengths.”

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