Cathal Mannion: 'A lot of people wrote Davy Burke off, even within our own county'
MORE TO GIVE: David Burke of Galway in action against Andrew Jamieson-Murphy of Dublin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Cathal Mannion isn't the type of man to give much away but his eyes light up when his talismanic team-mate David Burke is mentioned.
“Davy is unbelievable, and what he's done for the jersey and his club St Thomas'. He's given so much. He's still flying it. He's just unbelievable to have around the panel and such a leader, especially for younger lads to look up to. He's a role model for younger lads to follow.”
Having turned 35 at the start of this year, Burke is Galway’s Benjamin Button, their version of Patrick Horgan and TJ Reid.
He has had his travails like a cruciate tear in March 2023, a loss of form and when he was sent off in Galway’s championship exit to Dublin last year the epitaph of his excellent inter-county career was being penned.
But Burke, who scored three points against Dublin last Sunday week, knew different as did his buddies, even if so many including former Galway manager Henry Shefflin, wondered if that knee issue was going to finish him.
“A lot of people (thought that),” says Mannion, “but knowing Davy he was not going to go down too easily. He probably knew he was always going to come back after it, he didn't want to finish that way.
“I think loads of people wrote him off, even within our own county. With the amount of injuries he'd put in for Galway, and with the injury he got but Davy is very mentally strong and as I said a massive leader within the group. I had a fair idea he was never going to finish at that stage.”
Like Burke and Kilkenny’s Adrian Mullen who joined Mannion at last Tuesday’s Leinster final launch, the 30-year-old has his own injury story to tell.
His sublime form of late – 2-43 in four games, 1-22 from play – comes after a tormenting few years dealing with an Achilles tendon issue that he finally resolved with a small operation last winter.
“You’re putting all your weight on it, and then as a result, I was pulling hamstrings and so on. You couldn't get a run, and you'd feel you're coming back, and then get another setback and whatever. When you're getting injuries like that, with the way the season is now, you're going to miss probably a large chunk of it.”
He adds: “It wasn't a rupture, it was just a smaller procedure than that. It was just something that was there, obviously, as I said, three years. It's always in your head, so thankfully it's kinda gone now.”
If there was one benefit from it, Mannion has returned to county colours fresher.
“When you're missing large chunks of the season, you come back way hungrier, and probably as you get older, you know what you can and can't do.”
Mannion becoming Galway’s primary free-taker was something of a turn-up for the books including the Ahascragh-Fohenagh man.
“Even for my club I didn't take too many frees, an odd time here and there, sometimes. But no, probably just this year.
“They just said 'will you take them?' and I said, 'I would'. I started to practice them a lot and just started putting more time into them. Frees are obviously important and particularly as the season goes on you need to be scoring the frees. So I'll try to continue to keep improving.
“You need to be nailing them, particularly as the games get bigger and the competition is higher. Any chance you get you have to take.”
Galway go into Sunday’s game possibly without goalkeeper Darach Fahy who received a retrospective ban arising from the final round win over Dublin last Sunday week.
Following on from Daithí Burke’s red card against Offaly and Aidan Harte’s four-week ban from the same game, Galway have felt reason to be frustrated with the disciplinary system.
“These things happen during a game and as a player you're not, you don't pay much attention to them,” says Mannion. “I don't know if we're getting hard done by a lot, maybe we are, maybe we're not.
“Like when all these things are in the media, cameras will pick up on it and whatever else, but Daithí's one, yeah, I thought maybe it was harsh.”
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