Dr Crokes forward Micheal Burns pictured ahead of the AIB Munster Club SFC Final.
By Eoghan Tuohey
The fierce competition for places on the Dr. Crokes starting team, particularly in the forward line, is one of the chief reasons for their dominance of late, according to the promising Micheal Burns.
Nobody, regardless of past credentials, is guaranteed a spot, and this strength in depth has guided them convincingly into a Munster Club Football Final against St. Joseph’s, Milltown Malbay on Sunday, November 25th.
“Even in 2017, I couldn’t get my place,” Burns says. “I had a few injuries at the start of the year. I just couldn’t get my place, there were fellas playing well and the balance of the team was good.
“Tony Brosnan was on the county team in 2016 and then couldn’t get his place in the 2017 campaign with the Crokes. So, you’re looking over your shoulder constantly, knowing there’s a fella there waiting for you.”
What solidifies the Crokes panel even more, is how this competition to make the starting 15 doesn’t cause rifts between colleagues, but rather, galvanises relationships and results in a strong squad morale.
Each player is working not for himself, but for the team, the club, and what it represents. This has created a unity and a bond that makes this team so formidable.
“If you don’t play well, someone else will come in and play well and that’s the way it should be,” Burns states. “It’s brilliant. The lads have a brilliant attitude.
Dr Crokes' Micheal Burns palming a goal in the AIB Munster Club SFC Sem-Final against St Finbarr's.
“They’re all wanting the team to win. They’re putting their own ambitions aside and they’re rowing in behind the team and that’s brilliant.”
As a result, they are spoiled for choice, and possess an enviable ability to introduce star performers at crucial stages to finish teams off, a tactic that is not as readily available to many of their competitors.
“Michael Potts and all these fellas, they’re coming in off the bench and they’re making a huge impact. It’s the balance of the team. You have to look at who’s going to make an impact towards the end of a game whereas someone else might be a steadier starter and might give you a platform, and then you can bring in a bit of speed or something to just get you over the line.”
Any club team that can choose to leave Colm Cooper out of their starting team, only to introduce him at a later stage, is a one that commands respect.
Moreover, the Kerry legend’s response to not starting the last game epitomises the selfless attitude that exists within this close-knit group of players, and provides inspiration to younger players as they make their way up the ranks.
“Colm just wants the team to win,” Burns adds. “He’s done it all in the game. He’s won it all. He’s been there, done that. For a fella who’s not getting his place, he could easily kind of walk away and say, ‘I’ve done enough for this team’, but no, he’s still driving it on.
“When I wasn’t playing in 2017, I was younger and I mightn’t have reacted maybe the best at times. But then, you look at Colm and the way he’s reacted and it would make you feel bad about how you reacted yourself when you see someone like that. He’s just pure focused on the team winning and the team coming first and that’s it.”
