PRODUCING the type of display that leaves pundits gushing is Galway’s aim against Tipperary — but Fintan Burke admits TV analysis is not his cup of tea.
Looking ahead to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, the defender reflected on the ‘frustration’ of his side’s loss to Kilkenny in the Leinster decider.
The St Thomas’ man was also asked if he sat down to watch Cork’s penalty shootout win over Limerick in the Munster decider the previous evening.
Burke laughed: “I’d watch the match but not the analysis.
“I’d leave the analysis and go and have a cup of tea. There’s a lot of talk I wouldn’t agree with at half-time.”
When it comes to the opinions expressed by former players on live broadcasts, ignorance is bliss for Burke.
He explained: “Sometimes it’ll creep into your mind. You could be sitting at half-time for 15 minutes and you’ll be saying, ‘What are they saying about us?’
“If you don’t know what they’re talking about, you don’t know what they’re focusing on.
“Sometimes a lot of what is said at half-time is just to fill in the 15-minute gap.
“A lot of it has no relevance to how the game is going.”
As for the 3-22 to 1-20 defeat to Kilkenny, Burke does not require the input of any analyst to know that Galway’s performance was not up to scratch.
Having fallen 13 points behind by the 57th minute, the Tribe rallied by firing 1-6 without reply.
But a stoppage-time goal from Mossy Keoghan killed off the comeback as the Cats landed their sixth straight provincial title.
Burke reflected: “There’s probably a positive and a negative in that we’ve seen what we can do when we let our hurling do the talking once we get into the flow.
“But we left it too late and Kilkenny deservedly won.
“The most disappointing thing for us is that we didn’t hurl how we wanted to and we didn’t express the brand of hurling we’re trying to express.
“We kind of played it on Kilkenny’s terms.” Following their previous loss to Kilkenny in a Leinster final — in 2023 — Galway rebounded by advancing to an All-Ireland semi-final at Tipp’s expense.
They will hope to repeat the dose at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday.
The return to the hotseat of Micheál Donoghue, the man who steered them to Liam MacCarthy Cup glory in 2017, brought renewed hope to Galway entering this year.
And Burke, now in his sixth season of senior inter-county hurling, is keen to claim some Championship silverware.
But he said: “There’s no panic. There’s frustration and disappointment at our performance.
“But it’s not going to be an overnight thing of Micheál coming in and winning All-Irelands.
“It’s going to take a year or two for lads to kind of knit in, the younger lads to get used to the older lads and vice versa.
“But we still want to be successful at the same time.
“A few of us are pushing on a little bit and you don’t want to be waiting three or four years to be successful.
“It’s kind of about finding the balance in between.”
TIPP TEST
If Galway are to prevent Tipp from reaching the last four of the All-Ireland race for the first time since 2019, a leading role is likely to be played by Cathal Mannion.
The Ahascragh-Fohenagh marksman has been thriving since undergoing a procedure to address a long-standing Achilles issue last winter.
His fine form continued with an 11-point haul against Kilkenny.
Burke said: “People outside the county probably would’ve forgotten the level of hurler he is.
“In fairness to us in the group, when you see him day in, day out and week in, week out doing it in training, you’re not really surprised, to be honest.
“I’d have him as one of the best to come out of Galway
