Massive potential in new Kerry set-up, insists Burns

WHATEVER happens in Sunday’s Munster Club SFC final, Micheál Burns will likely be running straight through to a new season with Kerry.

Burns will be in action with Dr Crokes in their clash with Clare champions Miltown in Limerick this weekend, where they’ll be expected to win and ensure their run will bring them into the New Year. But even if the 1/25 shots are shocked, there’ll be little time to take a breath before heading back in with Kerry.

Burns (right) made his debut earlier this year and while there has been much change in the squad, with Eamonn Fitzmaurice and a handful of senior players opting out, he’s excited about what the new season under Peter Keane has in store.

Focused

“It’s exciting,” Burns said. “Look, the talent there is ferocious. Like that, it might be a bit difficult to get into the team if you miss a National League campaign, but we are focused on Crokes but of course you are looking forward to playing with Kerry.

“You wanted to play with Kerry since you were a young fella. If you weren’t looking forward to it, I don’t know should you be playing at all.”

Burns will likely be joined by several of his Crokes team-mates when the time comes. David Shaw is in good form while Tony Brosnan’s form has meant the great Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper hasn’t yet forced his way back into the side.

Cooper’s absence from the starting team underlines the strength of their bench and they looked in top form as they hit a staggering 5-20 from play against Cork champions St Finbarr’s.

The city outfit were likely on the end of a backlash after Nemo Rangers had ended Crokes’ reign as All-Ireland club champions in the Munster final last year.

“That stung,” Burns said of the defeat to Nemo. “It left a bit of a taste in the mouth, they outplayed us, physically, and then just over-ran us. But coming back this year you could see we were re-invigorated, and again the older fellas are setting that bar so high, and expect you to step up to that level.

“As a forward line, we really clicked (against St Finbarr’s), the ball was good into the full-forward line, people coming off it, and in the games previous we might have been playing for ourselves a little bit, but that Sunday we just clicked, and any day you get 5-20 is good day.”

They will be expected to dispose of Miltown with the minimum of fuss but Burns wanted against complacency.

“We’ve played plenty of Clare teams with Crokes in the past and they always come strong, they’re always... I think club football in Clare is fairly underrated. I’d have a lot of friends in college who’d be involved in it and it’s a very high level.

“I’ve watched a few clips of it and some of the scores they got on a bad day down in Fraher Field, they were impressive scores for any day. No, they’ll come and they’re county champions in their own right so they’ll have no fear.

“When you’ve won out in your county, you’re the main team in your area and that’s a huge confidence-booster and they’ll be coming to win the game.”