Unwavering Burns is in the form of his life

The long-serving forward excelled during Louth’s recent NFL campaign

FEW sensations can be more pleasing for the ego than proving others wrong. For years, Ryan Burns, the Hunterstown Rovers clubman who scored more from play than any other Louth star during the recent National League, was possibly the most maligned part of the county senior team’s make-up.

Context should be applied to any debate regarding Burns. He is not yet 28 years of age but is in his 11th season of inter-county involvement. No break, no jetting off to Timbuktu, no falling out with management, no need to rediscover the hunger, no excuses, no mouthing, no quitting.

The fact that he broke on to the scene so young inflated the expectation on him and while he would openly accept that consistency was an issue for him personally, 14-185 is not a bad innings in the red jersey.

Sure that’s his job. Sure he’s a forward. Sure he kicked frees. Sure he… For the years this was his brief, it wasn’t for almost as many, especially during the Mickey Harte era. Running back towards his own goal more often than getting an opportunity to do the damage.

After hitting the net against Offaly back in 2017, when Colin

Kelly led the Reds to promotion from Division 3, Donegal legend Martin McHugh was highly complimentary of Burns on RTÉ radio and compared him to Stefan White and Kelly himself in terms of how Louth “always seem to produce good forwards”.

However, unfortunately, Wee don’t necessarily muster good teams all that often and there is a similar parallel between Burns playing well or being meaningfully involved and Louth competing strongly at whatever grade they were at.

Through thick and thin, the lethal finisher very rarely failed to show up for his club. Observers can sometimes lament the fact that county players don’t stand out when they are back on the domestic beat. Well, when Burns landed to Roche for a league game back in 2021, he didn’t just bring his own shooting boots but also those of David Clifford, Darragh Canavan and Paul Mannion as well.

The pace, the movement, the points, the quality. Needless to say, very few in blue and white have ever called into question Burns’ capacity to play for Louth since then.

Is it too simplistic to say that he is only now in his prime? For many, they only really start to deliver regularly or perform best towards their late 20s. Conor Grimes is another such example. Maybe Burns, now that he’s nearer 30 than 25, appreciates the honour of playing for Louth more or has a greater determination to grasp the opportunities he has got left.

After not making an appearance in the victory over Meath last February, rumour has it that the Ardee man was considering

THERE IS A SIMILAR PARALLEL BETWEEN BURNS PLAYING WELL OR BEING MEANINGFULLY INVOLVED AND LOUTH COMPETING STRONGLY AT WHATEVER GRADE THEY WERE AT

stepping away for the first time. On the Sunday evening, he got a call from a member of the Louth management, encouraging him to go for a run and practice his shot-taking, that he may be needed the following week.

Wishful thinking, he could have thought, but he obliged and the next Sunday, he was in the corner for the victory against Kildare and was hugely prominent over the remainder of the season.

Though he’s never been playing as well as he is at the moment and the reasons for his revival will vary. Maybe the man himself doesn’t even know? But, as Del Boy once said, he’s got more bounce than Zebedee and performing like supporters have wanted him to since the day he buried Westmeath in Mullingar.

And not only is he doing it for a Louth team that has plenty of forward options, but he’s excelling in Division 2, where men are men!

Is he fresher? Better conditioned? Allowed to express himself more? Expending less energy on the donkey work? Then again, on the latter point, he’s not and can often be seen tackling vigorously in his own half.

However he is managing it, he is brimming with confidence and self-belief. As evidenced by how he negotiated Mick O’Grady’s attempts to cut-out a forward pass in the recent win over Kildare.

Its description in last week’s paper possibly didn’t do justice to

his excellence in the telling move.

“When the ball was kicked into space for Ryan Burns during the last 20 minutes, it looked as though the corner-forward was flagging and losing the foot race with Mick O’Grady.

“Perhaps that’s what his Kildare rival thought, too?

“But Burns, instead, used his left hand to hold off the Lilies’ captain and grasped possession with his right paw before swivelling and firing a perfect pass down the line with his left foot for Tom Jackson to scamper after.

“Ciarán Keenan was rampaging down the centre and looked set to benefit from a goal chance but with a high margin for error, Jackson wisely jinked inside and launched a high kick off his weaker left that sparked a loud roar of approval from Louth followers.”

Made in Hunterstown and finished in Ardee.

In planning to write this, a request was sent Burns’ way at last Wednesday night’s minor championship match at Páirc Baile Fiach. The 27-year-old, lying over the gate, guarding the entrance to the field, had gloves, a hat and a big coat on, with the hood up.

Trying to remain incognito or merely bidding to stay warm, he was picked out and approached. Grinning, he said: “I’ll get you again”.

Although, if he keeps letting his football do the talking, there will be little left to say.