'I'd have him as up there as one of the best ever that's come out of Galway'
WITH 12 MINUTES left in the Leinster hurling final, Galway were staring at the abyss.
The 2-18 to 0-12 deficit spoke volumes about their second-half struggles. The game had spun away from them as Kilkenny took control.
A Galway revival looked unlikely, yet it materialised. They got the gap down to four, and while Kilkenny pulled clear at the finish, that phase of play gave Galway something to cling to.
In that sense, they will pin their hopes on Cathal Mannion. He orchestrated their comeback with the class of his score under pressure next to the Cusack Stand, his ingenuity to tap a close-range free to Brian Concannon for a goal, and his reliability from placed balls.
It was a continuation of Mannion's 2025 form. A decade on from his breakthrough All-Star winning season, his importance to Galway has grown even more.
In Leinster fired 0-10 the first day out against Kilkenny, 2-8 the next day against Offaly, a mammoth 0-17 haul against Wexford, 0-8 against Dublin, and his 0-11 tally against Kilkenny in the final. Overall in the province he struck 2-54 (1-19 from play) across five games.
Entering Saturday's quarter-final against Tipperary, team-mate Fintan Burke knows how valuable Mannion is.
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'He was probably carrying a knock the last year or two with his Achilles, and in fairness he got that sorted over the winter. People outside the county probably would have forgotten the level of hurler he is and 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.
'In my opinion I'd have him as up there as one of the best ever that's come out of Galway to be honest.
'Even he got a point there out under the Cusack Stand, we were kind of under the cosh, he kind of fell over, you wouldn't do it if you were in the pitch on your own.
'That's just the magic of Cathal in fairness.'
Galway's Cathal Mannion and Paddy Deegan of Kilkenny. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
If the form of Mannion as an individual is an asset, Galway's form as a collective is a concern in the wake of the Leinster final.
Burke acknowledges the disappointment but is not pressing the alarm button just yet for their 2025 aspirations.
'Frustration is probably the word I'd use most. The most disappointing thing for us is that we didn't hurl how we want to hurl and we didn't express the brand of hurling that we're trying to express, which we kind of played on Kilkenny's terms,
'There is no panic. It's frustration and disappointment at our performance more than anything. We know it's not going to be an overnight thing Micheal (Donoghue) 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 still at the same time we want to be successful now. There's a few of us pushing on a small bit like and you don't want to be waiting three or four years to be getting successful. so it's kind of finding the balance in between.
'Sometimes people probably dwell on the loss or probably overreact sometimes. But at the end of the day if you were lucky enough to get over the line against Tipp, you're still back in the same place you would have been having won it (Leinster final).'
Galway manager Micheál Donoghue dejected after the Leinster final. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
Blocking out the outside noise is important to Burke. The night before the Leinster final, he didn't avoid watching the Munster thriller but there is a key part to his viewing experience.
'I'd watch the match, but I wouldn't watch the analysis, I'd leave the analysis and go have a cup or tea or something. There's a lot of talk there that I wouldn't agree with at half-time!
'Sometimes it'll creep into your own mind, maybe you could be sitting at half-time for 15 minutes and you'll be saying, what are they saying about us.
'Whereas if you don't know what they're talking about, you don't know what they're focusing on.
'I think sometimes a lot of what is said at half-time is just fill in the 15 minute gap. It has no relevance to how the game is going or how the result is going.'
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Galway hurler Fintan Burke. Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
The praise showered on the Munster championship and the regular comparisons with the fare in Leinster does not affect him.
'It doesn't bother me and I don't think it bothers anyone on the team. I just think comparisons sometime, it takes away the joy, why not sit back and watch the Munster final and just be like what a class game?
'And go and watch the Leinster and if you feel personally that it wasn't at the same standard, well what about it? If every game of hurling was to that standard, it's not going to work like that. You don't need to compare.'
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