John Conlon has been tasked with the unenviable job before.
The Clare man spent almost three hours of his life wrestling with Galway’s prized bullock over the course of two All-Ireland semi-final days and he knows more than most the daunting pen the Limerick lads are pounding into.
Conlon’s a a man made of iron himself and he met Burke with those bulging biceps and wide-ranging hips of his own and he got some change off Galway’s number three over the course of 170 physical minutes.
But while the physical test is tough, it’s not a patch on the technical side. Burke is a left-hander, and Conlon speaks of having to adapt his game in order to survive.
“I would have had to change my game to mark him because I’m used to marking a right handed hurler, and he’s coming with the butt of the hurley into the face, laughed Conlon on Friday night’s GAA Hour Show.
Limerick’s inside trio are all orthodox hurlers, gripping their hurley right over left, so there’s no getting away from the fact that it will be similarly awkward for them coming up against Burke with his elbows prodded and his his hurley held in his left.
John Conlon knows the struggle, and in preparation, he even had his girlfriend mimicking the Turloughmore titan with her right hand under her left in the weeks leading up to the semi-final when they were out pucking.
The Treaty troop, be it Flanagan, Gillane, Mulcahy or even Dowling will just have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. They’ll have to be standing on the other side at different stages, they’ll have to be ready for hurleys flicking in from the other side to dispossess them, they’ll have to be ready for whole new test to win a ball in the air.
Conlon offered them some advice from his experiences.
“I got caught the second day, I remember coming down and he held me and I was like ‘oh no’, I was giving out to myself like, ‘you got caught here now.'”
“When you’re marking a left handed lad you nearly have to run in behind him and come around the other side or else get your body into him so that you’re breaking it.”
Johnny Glynn on one end, Daithí Burke on the other…@johnconlonclon explains how hard it is marking Burke #southpaw pic.twitter.com/58FLAswfdY
— The GAA Hour (@TheGAAHour) August 18, 2018
“You just have to think that when you’re running out to a low ball, he comes out with a hurley into your hand which you’re not used to.”
“Little things, you had to change your game, I even had the girlfriend going around with her hurley in her left hand,” he laughed.
“If I was Limerick I’d be trying to pull him out. That was our plan the first day too, I tried to move around the half forward line and he did follow alright.
The Limerick lads will have to try and outfox the man who’s held his area hostage for nearly two years now. They’re going to have to run in and around him, they’re going to have to drag him out of his comfort zone, they’re going to have to horse into him.
You can listen to this discussion and much more from the GAA Hour Show Live from The Sugar Club right here.
