Galway must make 'a good start' against Limerick

David Mohan - BBC Sport NI journalistThu, July 16, 2026 at 7:04 AM UTC

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Former Galway All-Ireland winning captain David Burke feels the Tribesmen must make "a good start" against Limerick if they are to win their first title since 2017.

Burke captained Galway on that occasion, and again the following year - their last appearance on hurling's biggest day - when Limerick held on for a one-point win, thus beginning a run of five titles in six years.

Then, Galway were viewed as the top dog against the young hopefuls and there is something of a role reversal this time as while Limerick have missed out on Liam MacCarthy since 2023, they retain plenty of the personnel who have brought so much glory to the county.

While Burke called time on his inter-county career at the end of last year, Galway have five survivors from 2017: Daithi Burke, Conor Cooney, Conor Whelan, Padraic Mannion and Cathal Mannion.

Their influence will be crucial to help some of Galway's emerging stars and Burke insists "the start is massive" if Micheal Donoghue's men are to prevail.

"We saw Limerick getting that start against Cork in the league final and blew them away, so we need to stay in it and bring them down the stretch," said Burke, who will be part of BBC Sport NI's punditry team for the game.

"If we do that, we may have the legs on them, but they are so hard to beat in those minutes.

"Cathal Mannion and 'Whelo' are so important, so we'll see where they are positioned as Limerick will tag them, but we know they play more zonal than man-mark, so we need to move them around and try to find a mismatch.

"We'll see what the Limerick team is and Donoghue might make adjustments based on that, so a good start and good performances from Cathal and Conor are massive."

'Galway's new crop have stepped up'

While experience will be key, so too will the new generation which has been spearheaded by 19-year-old Jason Rabbitte - man of the match in the semi-final win over Cork - and Aaron Niland.

Donoghue, who guided Galway to their last title, returned to manage his native county last year after a spell with Dublin and Burke has been impressed with how he has sewn together youth and experience.

"They will definitely try to shut out Rabbitte and feel that if they do, they'll have a good chance to beat us, so we hope Niland can step up with a couple of scores," Burke said.

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"He's [Donoghue] thrown in young lads this year: Cillian Trayers at the back, Rory Burke who looks like he will be out and is a big loss, Cian Daniels who is a little bit older than the younger lads. Then you have lads there the last couple of years like Tom Mon [Monaghan], Darren Morrissey and Ronan Glennon who have come up trumps this year."

Donoghue has also devised a game-plan which has blossomed as the championship has gone on.

While there were some up and down displays in the Leinster round robin, it all clicked in the final against Dublin and again in the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork.

"It requires huge energy and work-rate, but it creates space for the half-forwards to run into," Burke noted.

"That's down to the players buying into it and that's evident with what 'Whelo' and Cathal [Mannion] and doing for the team.

"The last day, they tweaked it at half-time caught Cork out by putting Cathal back up the field and they probably weren't prepared for that.

"It's down to Donoghue as well and the little tweaks in games he is used to making, but it's hard to get messages in because there is no 'maor foirne', but he has Whelo and Cathal he is able to get to help switch up the game."

'All the pressure is on Limerick'

Match-ups will be key this weekend and Burke feels it will be interesting whether it's Daithi Burke or his Turloughmore club-mate Cillian Trayers who picks up Limerick's Aaron Gillane.

Cian Lynch is expected to be fit, a man who "always seems to play well against Galway" while Gearoid Hegarty has been a crucial presence in the Limerick attack, helping bring them back into it in their semi-final win over Clare.

With so many proven match-winners, it will be a serious challenge for Galway to claim a sixth title, but going in as underdogs, Burke feels Sunday is a "free hit" for his county.

"The pressure is on Limerick as they haven't won it in two years, and a lot of the talk is that for a few it's their last push for one.

"In '18 when Limerick won, they took over when we were thinking it was our turn to go for a couple of years but couldn't get the breakthrough.

"They are so experienced now with trust and belief in the system, that going down the stretch with them in a tight game, they are hard to beat."

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