Burke leads Ôband of brothersÕ

CIARAN TIERNEY

NOT since the legendary Sarsfields team of the 1990s has a club as small as St Thomas’ been top dogs in Galway hurling and the perception that they are a small ‘band of brothers’ is enhanced by the fact that team manager John Burke has six sons on the team who are aiming to deliver a first county senior title to the club on Sunday.

For the Cooneys and McGraths from New Inn, substitute the Burkes, Murrays, Skehills, Kellys and, indeed, Cooneys on the youthful St Thomas’ side who are aiming to make club history at Pearse Stadium. They represent barely 200 houses in Kilchreest and Peterswell, and the team is backboned by a handful of families.

John Burke has managed the team for half a decade, but he knew there was potential there as far back as 2002 when he was selector on the team who beat Carnmore in the U-12 final. That group of players reached the last two U-21 finals and make up the majority of this year’s senior side.

“We are aiming for this for a number of years. We saw the potential in these fellas even then. I remember I was a selector that day in 2002 with Mark Fahy and Kevin Cunningham. We said that this group of players would go places if they stuck together.

“They progressed up along after that. They went to U-14, won the U-16, won the minor and the U-21. They have stuck together as a group. Very few of them have left. A few have, between work and different things. But most have stuck to the hurling. They are all great friends.”

Perhaps this county final has come a little early for such a young side. But, as he surveyed a training session under temporary floodlights at Castledaly last week, Burke made it clear that they were a very happy group, bonded as much by a love of the game as blood ties or the sense of togetherness that comes from neighbours living in a small rural area.

“It’s probably the fact that we are an awful small parish,” said Burke. “It’s a very close-knit community, the hurling community here. That’s basically what we do. We hurl. There’s nothing else. They love their hurling. We stress that to every age group up along. You have to enjoy it. If it is a chore to come to the pitch for training, there is no point in coming then.”

Burke hurled himself until he was well into his 40s. With so many of his own young lads joining the underage ranks, it was almost inevitable he would take up a coaching role. He has made life-long friends from rival clubs through a mutual love of hurling and could hardly imagine life without the game.

With six sons involved in the senior panel – David, Darragh, Cathal, Kenneth, Sean, and Eanna – it is very much a family affair, but he treats every member of the panel equally and selectors Jimmy Kelly (Kilchreest) and Justin Flannery (Peterswell) work hard with Burke to ensure they have a happy camp.

“The lads on the panel are all equal to me, every man that’s out there. It’s all about who is working hardest all the time. We have a great panel. We stress that the last couple of years, it’s the young lads coming through who are probably making our team now. They are pushing it a little more for us, which is awful important. You won’t win any game with 15 players,” he said.

“We have a few other fellas there who are ready to go if we need them. On any given day, a lad could get hurt or injured. You have to be able to get the players in if we need them. I wouldn’t be worried about five or six of the subs if we had to use them. And the bit of experience of the likes of Enda Tannian and Richie Murray is very important. You need to have a few wise heads with the bit of experience all the time.” 

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.