CONOR BURKE HAS pointed to a mixture of hunger and belief which he says is fuelling Dublin’s unlikely bid to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup this year.
Having taken out All-Ireland favourites Limerick at the quarter-final stage, Dublin will now face the new favourites, Cork, in Saturday’s semi-final back at Croke Park.
Dublin have been installed as 11/2 underdogs, significantly down on their 12/1 price ahead of the Limerick game but are still very much in ‘long shot’ territory.
Midfielder Burke, who could slot in at centre-back for suspended captain Chris Crummey, said that Dublin view themselves as a match for anyone and revealed their desperation to collect silverware.
“I think that’s why we keep coming back – because we want silverware,” said eir hurling ambassador Burke.
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“There’s not many in the panel that were on the last Dublin team that tasted silverware. So I think there’s hunger to keep coming back and I think that’s coupled then with belief.
“There’s a lot of belief that there’s a huge talent in the dressing-room, and that if we can bring the levels of performance that we know we’re capable of, that we can put it up to any team on any given day as you’ve seen, not just against Limerick, but with a variety of different teams over a lot of years.”
Burke has been one of Dublin’s most reliable performers, starting 31 consecutive Championship games between his debut against Laois in 2020 and this season’s final provincial round robin game against Galway.
He was rested for the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final defeat of Kildare before bouncing back with a man-of-the-match display against Limerick when he fired five points.
Limerick’s David Reidy and Conor Burke of Dublin. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Burke was also man-of-the-match when Dublin last played Cork, at the quarter-final stage of the 2024 championship.
His natural versatility and experience of playing number six, allied to the return from suspension of Conor Donohoe, who has played in similar positions, means Dublin have a number of options to cope with Crummey’s absence.
“I’ve obviously played midfield and centre-back as well for the last couple of years, so both are positions that I’m very familiar with,” said Burke.
“I’m not sure what the plan will be but if it did come that way, yeah, of course I’d be happy enough to do it.”
Dublin lost that quarter-final to Cork by five points last year, producing a strong finish though ultimately reflecting on missed opportunities and wides as their undoing.
The expectation is that both sides will be significantly better this weekend with an All-Ireland final place on offer.
“I suppose there was a sense of missed opportunity,” said Burke of last year’s game.
“It was our shooting efficiency that let us down. I wouldn’t put that on just one individual. I think myself I had a 50 percent conversion. I scored four points and I missed four. But I think that performance will give us confidence that you’re able to compete and kind of push them as far as we did last year.
“But yeah, I think there was a sense of a missed opportunity on that front.”
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Desire for silverware fuel Dublin's drive as they seek to build on Limerick upset
CONOR BURKE HAS pointed to a mixture of hunger and belief which he says is fuelling Dublin’s unlikely bid to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup this year.
Having taken out All-Ireland favourites Limerick at the quarter-final stage, Dublin will now face the new favourites, Cork, in Saturday’s semi-final back at Croke Park.
Dublin have been installed as 11/2 underdogs, significantly down on their 12/1 price ahead of the Limerick game but are still very much in ‘long shot’ territory.
Midfielder Burke, who could slot in at centre-back for suspended captain Chris Crummey, said that Dublin view themselves as a match for anyone and revealed their desperation to collect silverware.
“I think that’s why we keep coming back – because we want silverware,” said eir hurling ambassador Burke.
“There’s not many in the panel that were on the last Dublin team that tasted silverware. So I think there’s hunger to keep coming back and I think that’s coupled then with belief.
“There’s a lot of belief that there’s a huge talent in the dressing-room, and that if we can bring the levels of performance that we know we’re capable of, that we can put it up to any team on any given day as you’ve seen, not just against Limerick, but with a variety of different teams over a lot of years.”
Burke has been one of Dublin’s most reliable performers, starting 31 consecutive Championship games between his debut against Laois in 2020 and this season’s final provincial round robin game against Galway.
He was rested for the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final defeat of Kildare before bouncing back with a man-of-the-match display against Limerick when he fired five points.
Burke was also man-of-the-match when Dublin last played Cork, at the quarter-final stage of the 2024 championship.
His natural versatility and experience of playing number six, allied to the return from suspension of Conor Donohoe, who has played in similar positions, means Dublin have a number of options to cope with Crummey’s absence.
“I’ve obviously played midfield and centre-back as well for the last couple of years, so both are positions that I’m very familiar with,” said Burke.
“I’m not sure what the plan will be but if it did come that way, yeah, of course I’d be happy enough to do it.”
Dublin lost that quarter-final to Cork by five points last year, producing a strong finish though ultimately reflecting on missed opportunities and wides as their undoing.
The expectation is that both sides will be significantly better this weekend with an All-Ireland final place on offer.
“I suppose there was a sense of missed opportunity,” said Burke of last year’s game.
“It was our shooting efficiency that let us down. I wouldn’t put that on just one individual. I think myself I had a 50 percent conversion. I scored four points and I missed four. But I think that performance will give us confidence that you’re able to compete and kind of push them as far as we did last year.
“But yeah, I think there was a sense of a missed opportunity on that front.”
* eir has reached a major milestone in its network transformation, now delivering 5G to 98% of Ireland’s population. As the first operator to launch 5G at Croke Park in 2020, eir continues to enhance the matchday experience for fans and players alike.
*****
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Conor Burke Dublin GAA Hurling