Donoghue praises Galway’s Daithi Burke for battling on through injury
GALWAY senior hurling manager Micheal Donoghue praised Daithi Burke’s performance in the Leinster senior hurling final win over Dublin on Saturday evening in Croke Park.
Burke looked to be in serious trouble with a knee injury during the first half but the medical team strapped up his knee and the Turloughmore clubman came back onto the field and went on to have an outstanding game at full back. The 33 year old did a terrific man marking job on Dublin targetman John Hetherton limiting him to 0-1 from play.
Donoghue and the medical team initially thought Daithi Burke had dislocated his knee.
“He thought he actually dislocated it and went back again, that's just a testament to the man he is. He's a bear,” Donoghue told Tribune Sport.
The Galway manager felt his team produced one of their strongest performances of the season in a 14-point win against Dublin.
“I think it was up there. We’ve had lots of good performances, no different to other teams and we’re striving for consistency over the 70 minutes.
“I think we started well and I suppose we just had the cushion. Even when Whelo (Conor Whelan) got sent off (black card) and Dónal (Burke) took the penalty well, I think we went back up and got the next score and that just probably settled it a bit. It was a good performance but we’ll still look for more.”
The experienced members of the squad, including Burke, the Mannion brothers Pádraic and Cathal, Conor Whelan, and Tom Monaghan, all produced inspirational displays for the men in maroon and white in the Leinster final.
Whelan and Monaghan were particularly effective, combining for an impressive 0–12 from play between them. Since the Kildare game, Monaghan has been in strong scoring form, registering 1–21 from play.
“I thought the elder statesmen today were absolutely outstanding, they led the way. There's a good balance there (with youth), so it's nice to get silverware and push on now again.”
Seven players in the Galway starting XV are under the age of 23, while there were ten changes from the side that started the 2025 Leinster final.
There is a growing sense of optimism around the Galway senior hurlers after they claimed the Leinster SHC title for the first time since 2018. Micheál Donoghue is increasingly finding the right blend between youth and experience within his squad.
Young players such as Cillian Trayers, Darragh Neary, Aaron Niland, and Jason Rabbitte have added energy to the team.
Following a 15-point win over Kilkenny in round one, there were some inconsistent performances against Kildare and Wexford during the round-robin stage, where Galway had to come from behind. However, this was not seen as a major concern from Donoghue.
“In some performances, we were getting criticised. But in our world, we were still in transition.There are a lot of young fellas there and they’re learning their trade.
“In Galway, when you have a few decent performances, the expectation levels go through the roof. And then if you have mediocre performances, it’s the end of the world. For us in the group, we kept that balance in just trying to be getting better every single day,” added the Galway senior hurling manager.
“I’m not saying it’s the finished article by any stretch, we still have a lot of work to do but there’s some really good talented young fellas there and they have a great opportunity now over the next few years to push on.”
The Clarinbridge man did admit it has been a challenging few weeks with injuries and having players involved with the U20’s and seniors. Rory Burke was forced off the pitch with a hamstring injury on13 minutes in the Leinster final, while Fintan Burke also made his first appearance of 2026 on Saturday evening.
“Genuinely, the risk coming into it, we had to play a few. Obviously winning Leinster was worth the risk. He’s just been a bit unlucky, Rory (Burke), over the last couple of weeks with it just recurring. Hopefully it’s not too bad.
“With some of the younger lads, the scheduling of the 20s has been really hard to navigate. For myself and Gavin (Keary), the Under-20 manager, it was really difficult in the last couple of weeks.
“We had some of them with knocks and were trying to manage them just to get through games. Seán Murphy picked up a long-term injury but hopefully the month will help Cullen Killeen to get back.
“It’s been a really challenging couple of weeks for us as a group. We’ll just welcome these four weeks to focus.”
The All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final now presents Galway with a major opportunity to reach the All-Ireland final for the first time since 2018. Limerick and Cork are expected to be strong favourites to contest the Liam McCarthy Cup, but Micheál Donoghue’s side will have four weeks to recover, fine-tune preparations, and go in under the radar.
“The number one target for us was winning Leinster. We’ve accomplished that now and we’ll let that sink in. We’ll get back to work during the week.
“The opportunity to come back and play in an All-Ireland semi-final, they’re rare occasions.We had great support and hopefully we’ll get more in a month’s time. For us now, it’s just to enjoy the few days, get back to work and build up to what will hopefully be a good opportunity for us,” concluded Donoghue.