New York stint provided necessary hunger for Crokes' inside man David Shaw

However, Burns wasn’t the only member of the Lewis Road outfit to enjoy a period in the United States this year. For full-forward David Shaw, another vital cog in the Pat O’Shea attacking machine, six months in New York played a huge part in his consistent good form heading into tomorrow’s Munster final.

“I went over last January and came back in June. It was brilliant, I was living with a few boys from Kerry, they were all playing with Kerry New York. I wasn’t playing any football myself, just doing a bit of gym work here and there, and working in a pub over in Manhattan,” he said.

“It was a completely different setting, and a completely different environment, but there was still a touch of home with the boys. It was a good mixture. The biggest thing then coming back was just the freshness.

“When I came back, I was mad for road, the hunger was back, and I feel it has really stood to me this year. For the previous six months, I wasn’t playing any county league, and I had a bit of freshness coming into the championships.” 

Like the 25-year-old Shaw, midfielder Mark O’Shea, a year older, has taken on much more of a leadership position in 2024. With the long-serving experienced players, and the developing young tyros, at different ends of the age spectrum, those in the middle bracket felt they had to step up.

“Over the last few years, there was a probably a bit of a gap where we were kind of finding ourselves, and stepping into those leadership roles. It’s probably something that’s come to light this year, where a lot of us have tried to embrace that, and take on being more influential on the field,” he said.

“This year, we’ve all been able to, touch wood, stay injury-free, and be more consistent as a group, and as a team. That definitely reflects then individually, and makes it a lot easier, and fellas are able to know their role, and know where they’re able to help the team. It’s something we have improved on a lot.” 

Having already lifted the county league, senior club championship and county championship titles in the Kingdom, Loughmore Castleiney will provide the stiffest of tests in the search for provincial glory. Shaw is full of praise for the Dr Crokes’ defence, especially after the huge scare against Rathgormack.

“It’s a good sign of a team to be winning when you’re not playing well. I don’t think hunger can come into question with the team. We’ve been starved of success for the last couple of years. The last day was disappointing. Individually, I was disappointed with my own performance,” he admitted.

“I think what really showed the last day was how defensively strong we have become this year. I don’t think the boys get enough credit for what they do. In the forwards, we weren’t clicking, but the boys at the back, to a man, they all stood up. They were unbelievable.” 

O’Shea concurs with the view, that after being put to the absolute pin of their collars a fortnight ago in the Munster semi-final, the Killarney club will have endured the best possible preparation for what’s to come in Mallow.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it’s probably a game where we would have packed up our traps, and folded, going back over the last few years. Even though it wasn’t a great performance by any means, and we certainly have plenty to work on, we still dug out a victory,” he stressed.

“That showed throughout the year. It was the same against Dingle. We just hung in there in the county final, and got our purple patch. We’re under no illusions of what we’re going to be coming up against on Sunday. This is probably going to be our toughest test of the year.

“Teams might feel that they can get an edge on us by outworking us, but we’re a young group, we’re kind of a mixed group, a lot of us haven’t really tasted Munster success. We’re going to be extremely up for this game, it’s the biggest game of some of our careers.”