No-one could accuse Micheal Donoghue of not trawling the county for talent upon his return to the Galway hotseat. The Tribesmen were the only county in Division 1 to hand game time to 40 different players in the National League. Burns was arguably the find of the campaign, perhaps not quite a youngster but still young enough to have time on his side.
His game-hinging goal for Loughrea, and 1-3 tally, in last November’s county final success undoubtedly piqued Donoghue’s interest. After substitute appearances in Galway’s first two league games, he made his full debut against All-Ireland champions Clare and struck 2-3, adding 1-1 against Wexford next time out.
He was taken off at half-time against Limerick – pundit Shane McGrath noted in his column that Burns got some ‘real lessons’ in that game from Limerick’s Sean Finn – and didn’t feature in their final outing. But the 2020 Galway U-20 panellist has done enough to earn ‘one to watch’ status.
*****
2. Darragh McCarthy (Tipperary)
Toomevara’s young scoring sensation is arguably the most exciting prospect heading into this year’s Championship. His ascension to the elite grade is no great surprise on the back of his U-20 excellence last year and subsequent strong club form.
Still, six starts from seven National League games, including the Division 1 final, marked a highly successful first spring campaign. Free-taking duties at the highest level didn’t phase McCarthy who finished the league campaign with 2-48.
A Harty Cup winner with Nenagh CBS just last year, UL student McCarthy is still a Tipp U-20 but has the power to win his own ball and the pace to burn defenders close to goal. Liam Cahill brought McCarthy in for a taster of senior activity last summer and he could yet build an attack in the coming seasons around the forward who has been compared to the great Eoin Kelly.
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*****
3. Diarmuid Healy (Cork)
Pat Ryan did his best to keep a lid on soaring expectation levels the night that Diarmuid Healy announced himself as a Cork senior. That was back at the start of March, when Healy capped his full National League debut with 1-5 against Kilkenny and the Man of the Match award. “He’s going to be around for a long while, so it’s not all on this year,” said manager Ryan.
It certainly seems a safe bet that a player with All-Ireland minor and U-20 winning pedigree is here for the long haul, though his form suggests that he can be immediately impactful, perhaps even this weekend against Clare. The Lisgoold youngster also started the league final win, scoring two points so. His emergence adds badly needed competition in the half-forward line and could just add that extra few percent required to Cork’s quest for All-Ireland success.
*****
4. Jack Redmond (Wexford)
In the build up to this year’s Leinster SHC, Wexford captain Lee Chin reiterated his belief that, if things fall their way, they can do something special. Retirements have hit the county hard – Liam Og McGovern, Diarmuid O’Keeffe and Matthew O’Hanlon all called it quits over winter – so fresh inspiration is required and that’s where Rathnure’s Redmond comes in.
He didn’t make any Wexford minor teams though was a county U-20 for two years and after captaining his club to Leinster intermediate success over winter, as their principal scorer, has taken his county opportunity with both hands.
Redmond started the last five games of Wexford’s Division 1A campaign and along with rookies David and Darren Codd will be expected to contribute significantly in this year’s Championship. Conor McDonald is still out injured, adding to the necessity for new stars up front.
*****
5. Dan Bourke (Offaly)
Six of the Offaly players that started the recent National League Division 1B final against Waterford hailed from Durrow. Two more, Sam Bourke and Zach Fogarty, are panellists. It’s a talented crop of local talent that Michael Duignan helped to hone and Dan Bourke is arguably the pick of the bunch.
The centre-forward captained Offaly to All-Ireland U-20 success last year and was Man of the Match in the final defeat of Tipperary. His clever pass over the top of the Waterford defence in the more recent league final, picking out Oisin Kelly for Offaly’s second goal, underlined just what a talent he is.
This will be Offaly’s first season back in the Leinster SHC since 2018 and if they’re to stay there, players like Bourke will need to make a big impact. He started, and scored in, all of their league games.
*****
6. Aidan O’Connor (Limerick)
Will O’Donoghue made the point this week that while Colin Coughlan, Adam English and Cathal O’Neill are regularly identified as rookie Limerick players, they’ve actually been around for several seasons. Between the trio they have 33 Championship appearances.
O’Connor, however, is a genuine greenhorn in Championship terms, yet to start a Munster or All-Ireland series game and with only four substitute appearances to his name. He made his senior league debut in 2023, a year after firing nine points in Limerick’s 2022 Munster U-20 final win.
Limerick senior teams have been notoriously difficult to break into at Championship time, and an apprenticeship is typically required before doing so, but O’Connor did come on three times in Munster last year and started every single league game for them this season in Division 1A, striking 0-15 in all. So this could be his time to step up.
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6 young hurlers to watch in this year's All-Ireland senior championship
1. Anthony Burns (Galway)
No-one could accuse Micheal Donoghue of not trawling the county for talent upon his return to the Galway hotseat. The Tribesmen were the only county in Division 1 to hand game time to 40 different players in the National League. Burns was arguably the find of the campaign, perhaps not quite a youngster but still young enough to have time on his side.
His game-hinging goal for Loughrea, and 1-3 tally, in last November’s county final success undoubtedly piqued Donoghue’s interest. After substitute appearances in Galway’s first two league games, he made his full debut against All-Ireland champions Clare and struck 2-3, adding 1-1 against Wexford next time out.
He was taken off at half-time against Limerick – pundit Shane McGrath noted in his column that Burns got some ‘real lessons’ in that game from Limerick’s Sean Finn – and didn’t feature in their final outing. But the 2020 Galway U-20 panellist has done enough to earn ‘one to watch’ status.
*****
2. Darragh McCarthy (Tipperary)
Toomevara’s young scoring sensation is arguably the most exciting prospect heading into this year’s Championship. His ascension to the elite grade is no great surprise on the back of his U-20 excellence last year and subsequent strong club form.
Still, six starts from seven National League games, including the Division 1 final, marked a highly successful first spring campaign. Free-taking duties at the highest level didn’t phase McCarthy who finished the league campaign with 2-48.
A Harty Cup winner with Nenagh CBS just last year, UL student McCarthy is still a Tipp U-20 but has the power to win his own ball and the pace to burn defenders close to goal. Liam Cahill brought McCarthy in for a taster of senior activity last summer and he could yet build an attack in the coming seasons around the forward who has been compared to the great Eoin Kelly.
*****
3. Diarmuid Healy (Cork)
Pat Ryan did his best to keep a lid on soaring expectation levels the night that Diarmuid Healy announced himself as a Cork senior. That was back at the start of March, when Healy capped his full National League debut with 1-5 against Kilkenny and the Man of the Match award. “He’s going to be around for a long while, so it’s not all on this year,” said manager Ryan.
It certainly seems a safe bet that a player with All-Ireland minor and U-20 winning pedigree is here for the long haul, though his form suggests that he can be immediately impactful, perhaps even this weekend against Clare. The Lisgoold youngster also started the league final win, scoring two points so. His emergence adds badly needed competition in the half-forward line and could just add that extra few percent required to Cork’s quest for All-Ireland success.
*****
4. Jack Redmond (Wexford)
In the build up to this year’s Leinster SHC, Wexford captain Lee Chin reiterated his belief that, if things fall their way, they can do something special. Retirements have hit the county hard – Liam Og McGovern, Diarmuid O’Keeffe and Matthew O’Hanlon all called it quits over winter – so fresh inspiration is required and that’s where Rathnure’s Redmond comes in.
He didn’t make any Wexford minor teams though was a county U-20 for two years and after captaining his club to Leinster intermediate success over winter, as their principal scorer, has taken his county opportunity with both hands.
Redmond started the last five games of Wexford’s Division 1A campaign and along with rookies David and Darren Codd will be expected to contribute significantly in this year’s Championship. Conor McDonald is still out injured, adding to the necessity for new stars up front.
*****
5. Dan Bourke (Offaly)
Six of the Offaly players that started the recent National League Division 1B final against Waterford hailed from Durrow. Two more, Sam Bourke and Zach Fogarty, are panellists. It’s a talented crop of local talent that Michael Duignan helped to hone and Dan Bourke is arguably the pick of the bunch.
The centre-forward captained Offaly to All-Ireland U-20 success last year and was Man of the Match in the final defeat of Tipperary. His clever pass over the top of the Waterford defence in the more recent league final, picking out Oisin Kelly for Offaly’s second goal, underlined just what a talent he is.
This will be Offaly’s first season back in the Leinster SHC since 2018 and if they’re to stay there, players like Bourke will need to make a big impact. He started, and scored in, all of their league games.
*****
6. Aidan O’Connor (Limerick)
Will O’Donoghue made the point this week that while Colin Coughlan, Adam English and Cathal O’Neill are regularly identified as rookie Limerick players, they’ve actually been around for several seasons. Between the trio they have 33 Championship appearances.
O’Connor, however, is a genuine greenhorn in Championship terms, yet to start a Munster or All-Ireland series game and with only four substitute appearances to his name. He made his senior league debut in 2023, a year after firing nine points in Limerick’s 2022 Munster U-20 final win.
Limerick senior teams have been notoriously difficult to break into at Championship time, and an apprenticeship is typically required before doing so, but O’Connor did come on three times in Munster last year and started every single league game for them this season in Division 1A, striking 0-15 in all. So this could be his time to step up.
*****
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