It has been one of the great achievements of the club season. Na Fianna hadn’t won a Dublin senior hurling title, coming into this season but had come really close when losing narrowly to Kilmacud in the past two years. That was with the assistance of their top marksman, Dónal Burke, who is also the county team’s most productive forward.
Burke sustained a bad injury against Clare in Dublin’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat last June and has been unable to play since. Yet, in the interim, his clubmates seized the initiative to kick on and were convincing winners of this year’s county final against Ballyboden. Had the experience of the previous two years helped?
“We didn’t really have any let-up in the game this year. That was probably all credit to the lads. I remember talking about it afterwards and they were all saying that it didn’t feel like we were going to win nearly until the final whistle went.
“That was the mindset that we have now. These are the learnings that you have to take from those games. Leads can change so much. I remember we were down against Kilkenny a couple of years ago by 16 points at half-time. We came back and drew the game in the last five minutes [they narrowly lost in the end]. In hurling, there is no biggest margin that you can’t come back from. The game can change so quickly and the swing can change.”
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As a result, Na Fianna are one match away from a Leinster final and play Kildare double champions Naas in Saturday’s provincial semi-final. Asked about his current fitness, Burke is positive but not in the immediate context.
“I’m nearly there, probably about another month away I’d say, so nearly there.”
The damage was done early in the Clare match, an avulsion.
“Yeah, it was early. I went for a puck out and jumped up and landed and whatever way I landed I hyperextended my leg somehow and I just popped it. It was strange — tore my hamstring off the bone so I had to get surgery there during the summer.
“It was probably the worst it can be. It was the tendon that’s right up the top and probably the most difficult to repair and that’s why I’m not taking any chances and rushing it back. It should be fine, I’m 100 per cent confident coming back I’ll be able to play to the level I have been playing. It’s just about taking my time and not taking any chances.
“Mine is 4C, probably the worst grade you can get. I didn’t actually know there was that grade. When it happened, I was like, ‘ah, it’ll be a 3B or C and the physio rang me and it was actually a 4C!’”
Involved in the background as a water carrier and mentor for the younger players, Burke is at this stage used to being asked about his feelings at seeing his club win the coveted title in his absence.
“Everyone has been asking me that the last couple of weeks. To be honest, if you’d told me at the start of the year that we’d have won the club and that I wouldn’t be playing, I’d have taken that.
“It’s bigger than me, winning a club championship, with the way the last couple of years have gone and the amount of work the club has done. It was special to be honest. Obviously, it was tough not to be playing but at the same time it was great to get the win.”
Dónal Burke was speaking at the launch of the Staycity Aparthotels sponsorship of Dublin’s county teams.
