Burke is waiting in the wings
TO ADD to the loneliness of the long distance runner is the loneliness of the GAA squad member. Killian Burke wore number 17 for the Munster hurling final against Clare. Pushed himself to the limit to make the cut, the same as every Cork player. But it can be hard to break into a winning team who have the wind at their back.
For the semi-final against Waterford, that number on his back was 18. Same for the first round against Tipperary. Each time, he has followed the ebb and flow of Cork’s unexpected odyssey to a first Munster hurling Championship since 2014, just waiting for his name to be called, for his number to go up on the electronic substitution board.
Each time, he shared the joy of Cork winning with his teammates without experiencing the cut and thrust of action.
The summer storylines revolve around the big personalities and the players who put in a star turn. It’s the close calls and hard luck stories from the official match day 26 or even those who slip the wrong side of that cut when the list is sent for the programme that tend to slip under the radar.
Burke offers a good insight into what drives a player beyond the whitewash.
Motivation isn’t a problem going training. ‘Every Tuesday and Thursday I always say is kind of an All-Ireland final for me,’ he says simply.
‘You are really trying to push the lads. I’d like to say that our forwards get a big benefit from marking us as well. No, I wouldn’t say there is any less motivation for me to turn up at training. If called upon I know what’s expected.’
It’s a quirk of fate that he is trying to break into a full-back line that has been a revelation this summer, captain Stephen McDonnell in one corner with bright young star Colm Spillane in the other. Sandwiched in between is Damien Cahalane who has been an inspired presence.
The half-back line too of Christopher Joyce, Mark Ellis, and Mark Coleman has been to the fore. In fact, the defence has been performing at such a consistent level that the Cork management haven’t made a single defensive substitution out of the 11 changes made over their three Championship outings so far.
‘Our full-back line have been outstanding, I take my hat off to them really,’ says Burke, acknowledging it can be tougher being a defensive substitute.
‘I think so, that’s very fair, I’ve experienced that in the last few years. We haven’t made a defensive substitution this year and again that’s testament to the lads.
‘I’ve said it always, even to the younger lads who are the backs on the panel, it’s not as easy to kind of break into the back line coming on maybe than the forwards. It’s more of a specialised position I think. It’s either something is going wrong or somebody is injured if you are coming on.’
Burke’s preparation has to be the same as anyone on the starting 15 — same for Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Waterford. At UCC, he had the likes of Waterford’s Jamie Barron, Tadhg de Búrca and Darragh Fives for company so he knows all about what they will bring.
‘I’d be friendly with the lads but obviously when it comes to the match days friendships are put aside and it’s totally focused for Cork.’
After Cork took all the plaudits in the Munster semi-final, the upsurge in Waterford’s form is encapsulated in Barron’s play since.
‘He’s a phenomenal player really. Look, we are under no qualms to what they are going to bring. They have had a couple of excellent games since we played them.
‘We’ve got a process in place where we’re structured in our back-line and playing off the cuff in our forward-line. We don’t really have, I’d say, tactics or anything like that, it’s very much off the cuff and I think that probably suits some of our forwards.’
A business analyst with DePuy Synthes in Ringaskiddy, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, the Munster final against Clare threw up an unusual situation: Donal Óg Cusack and Donal Moloney — the Clare coach and joint manager — are work colleagues.
One of his career highlights has been winning a Cork county championship with Midleton alongside Conor Lehane, and the black and white colours of the club explain a fondness for Fulham soccer club — one of his favourite moments in sport being the London club’s 4-1 victory over Juventus in the Europa League back in 2010.
In his pen profile on the Cork website, his favourite players are listed as Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Mickey O’Connell and Wayne Sherlock — all members of AllIreland winning Cork hurling teams from the previous decade.
All he wants is to be part of the next Cork team to finally bring back the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
“If called upon I know what is expected”