THE ABSENCE OF Kilkenny in this year’s All-Ireland hurling final means it’s a different build-up to the one Galway experienced in 2012 and 2015.
In all likelihood the Tribesmen will be warm favourites for the September showdown against the winners of Waterford and Cork.
But midfielder David Burke doesn’t believe that heaps added pressure on the Tribesmen as they seek to end a 29-year drought without the Liam MacCarthy.
“The fact (Tipperary) were All Ireland champions and we got over that line, there might not be as much pressure on us going into it,” he says.
“We have been favourites for every game this year so it won’t be any different. We just have to deal with that.
“It will be a different sort of feel to the final. If Waterford win, it’ll be a novel feeling to it. A Galway-Waterford final…I don’t know when it happened last and we played Cork in the final in ’05 so at least there’s a small bit of history there.
“I think the fact that we’ve been in semi-finals and finals in the last few years, the crowd still know the job isn’t done and they’ve learned as well and know as much as us that the job isn’t done. The hype mightn’t be as bad this time going into the final.”
A veteran of three All-Ireland finals already, the 27-year-old St Thomas’ man won’t try and lock himself away from all the talk in Galway over the next month.
“I know myself really you’d have to take it on the chin a small bit,” added the Galway skipper. “These people want to see you do well, so you don’t avoid it as much as you can.
“You’d be meeting people or whatever and if you are going to club training or whatever you’d meet people in the shop and just talk for a couple of minutes. They’re enjoying it and it’s all about the build-up for them as well.
“You kind of have to be part of that and I suppose when you do go training you set yourself differently and focus on what you need to do and the task at hand.”
Burke was full of praise for the form of corner-forward Conor Whelan, who appears to be a front-runner for Hurler of the Year at this stage.
“You seen the last day, it was just pure work-rate that got us over the line, especially around that area of the field. It was purely portrayed in Whelan’s hook on Michael Cahill, the game could have been completely different.
“He’s the best man in any tackling drills we have at training for the size he is. He’s some man to win ball when it’s down at his feet. You could see the last day or in any games we’ve played this year, I think what he’s worked on is his aerial ability. That’s why he’s probably getting a couple of more scores in the games this year.
“Has he 20 points gotten in four championship games? That’s five points a game, that’s a massive return for a corner-forward.
“He’s been a massive player for us but it’s his work off the ball that he does. You’d see it if you’re watching that zone in the forward line when the ball is down the field, you can see the work he does for the team when he doesn’t have the ball.
“In the Leinster final he probably created eight or nine scores if you look back at that game.”
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