Niall Burke has enjoyed a dream start to his Galway senior hurling career, but as we discovered this week, he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

Few up-and-coming hurlers have made the same impact as Niall Burke has this spring. Still eligible for the U21 grade and in his first season with the Galway seniors, the Oranmore-Maree clubman has been outstanding in the Tribesmen's first three games of the Allianz League and would appear to have all the attributes to become one of hurling's biggest names over the next few years.

In Joe Canning's absence, the rookie centre forward has taken over the free-taking duties and was Galway's top-scorer in their wins over Dublin and Cork, and in their narrow defeat to Tipperary. He marked his competitive debut with a 10-point haul - half of which came from play - against Dublin in Salthill, followed it with 0-7 against Tipperary and scored 1-10 against Cork. New Galway manager Anthony Cunningham reckoned Burke's spectacular winning goal in Pairc Ui Chaoimh was one his Cork counterpart Jimmy Barry-Murphy would have been proud of.

"It was a great finish, just clipping it first time and probably reminiscent of Jimmy Barry-Murphy's goals here in former times," remarked the busiest manager in the GAA at present.

Burke, of course, isn't the first fledgling Galway hurler to show this kind of promise. Galway is a county full of hurlers who never fulfilled their potential and the last thing he wants is to find himself in that category five years from now.

"This is only my first year on the Galway senior panel and I still have an awful lot to learn. It's all a learning curve. It's going well so far, but it's still only March. I'll have a better idea of where I stand when the championship comes around," he says.

"That will be the big test. There is fierce competition for places on the team and like the rest of the lads, I'm playing for my championship place at the moment. There is still a lot to play for and places to be won. I'm not taking anything for granted."

While recognising Burke's immense talent, Oranmore-Maree secretary Pat Burke - who is not related - is equally cautious in his outlook.

"I coached Niall all the way through the underage ranks and there is no doubt he has the makings of a fine hurler. He has great wrists. He's had a great start to his county senior career, but still has a long way to go. One swallow doesn't make a summer as the old saying goes.

"Would he be able to perform at the intensity we saw in the last few All-Ireland finals between Kilkenny and Tipp? That is the ultimate test for any hurler," he contends.

Oranmore-Maree are understandably proud of the NUIG student who is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the club's most famous son, Pat Malone, by winning All-Ireland senior honours. Niall has already won All-Ireland minor and U21 medals in 2009 and last year, and was man of the match in the 2008 All-Ireland minor final which Galway lost to a late Kilkenny goal.

"It's great for the club to have Niall on the county team," Oranmore-Maree PRO Vinny Byrne enthuses.

"Pat Malone would have been our best-known hurler before now. He won All-Ireland medals in 1987 and '88, and continued to play at midfield for Galway well into the 1990s. Richie Burke was on the Galway team in the mid-1990s, but we've had no-one since then. Gerry McInerney and Tony Keady, who played alongside Pat in the 1987 and '88 All-Ireland victories, have joined our club in recent years and are making big contributions."

It is clear that Anthony Cunningham and his selectors Tom Helebert and Mattie Kenny are keen to build their team around last year's All-Ireland U21 winners.

"There's 17 of us from last year's U21 team on the senior panel at present and 14 of us are U21 again this year. The management is the same as well. You have a good sprinkling of older guys like Damien Hayes, Fergal Moore and Tony Og Regan still there, and it's all about trying to get the right balance. Senior is a massive step-up from U21 and most of us are still unproven at this level. You need the bit of experience as well," Niall explains.

Burke is pleased with how Galway have started 2012, adding that their sights are firmly fixed on a league semi-final place.

"We had a good run in the Walsh Cup and then beat Dublin in the first round of the league. That was a big win for us because they are the league champions and had beaten Galway in last year's Leinster championship semi-final. We lost to Tipp in our second game, but learned a lot from it and got our second win against Cork last Sunday. It was looking bad in the first half when we were eight points down, but Anthony Cunningham gave us a good talking to in the dressing-room at half-time and we managed to turn it around.

"We have a fair bit of strength and conditioning work behind us and it's all ball work from now on. We're looking forward to playing Waterford in Pearse Stadium this weekend. A win would put us in a strong position to reach the semi-finals, but we are expecting a very tough game, especially as Waterford are in a relegation battle and are desperate for league points. They've knocked Galway out of the last two championships and are always difficult to beat."

The 20-year-old insists that the Tribesmen aren't looking beyond the winners of the preliminary round clash between Antrim and Westmeath in this year's Leinster championship.

"Antrim hurling is on a high after Loughgiel's All-Ireland club final victory last Saturday and Westmeath nearly beat us in last year's championship. Galway needed to bring on the likes of Joe Canning in the last 20 minutes to pull that one out of the fire," he recalls.

"Obviously, we're hoping for a good championship and to get up to the same level as the Kilkenny's and Tipperary's of this world. People are always going on about Galway's inability to turn underage success into senior success, but hopefully we'll be able to put that right over the next couple of years. We're just going to give it everything and hope that will be good enough."

While his free-taking has been impeccable, Niall doesn't see himself standing over the frees come the summer. "As soon as Joe Canning returns from his shoulder injury, he'll be back on free-taking duty. In fairness to Joe, he's one of the best free-takers in the country - I'm only filling in for him!" he smiles.

And what about Anthony Cunningham's dual mandate with Galway and Garrycastle? Is it impacting on training?

"No, not at all," Burke asserts. "You wouldn't even know he's with anyone else only for you see him on telly or read about it in the papers. Garrycastle's draw with Crossmaglen (in the All-Ireland club football final) means he'll be with them for at least another week, but as soon as the replay is over, all his focus will be on Galway." Tweet

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