GALWAY hurling captain David Burke has admitted being labelled "gutless" and "made of absolutely nothing" will provide serious motivation to the team.
Clare legend and pundit Ger Loughnane made those caustic comments in his newspaper column on the back of Galway's Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny, when they coughed up a three-point half-time lead.
Loughnane said that occasion was the perfect opportunity for the Galway players, who ousted manager Anthony Cunningham last autumn, to prove their worth but, instead, "collapsed". At the launch of the All-Ireland series, Burke said it was inevitable the coup organised by the players after last year's All-Ireland final would be tossed back at them as soon as they lost a big game.
He said it is up to the players to respond on the pitch against Clare in the All-Ireland quarter-finals on Sunday week and admitted they will be motivated by the criticism: "If we can use that motivation grand. Personally, I probably won't use it.
"I motivate myself in a different way, but others probably will use it. It should be a good thing for us really, going forward. He [Loughnane] is from Clare, so it should be a good thing. Lads really, really should now dig it and stand up for themselves."
Asked if Loughnane's barbs cut the players, Burke nodded, acknowledging some "would have been hurt by what was said", though he sensed it was coming after surrendering that three-point lead, like they also did in last year's All-Ireland final.
"Ah sure, we knew at some stage it [ousting Cunningham] was going to be thrown at us," said Burke.
"Even in the league after losing to Cork, the same thing was thrown at us, but you can't really take too much from the league, it's different. Teams are coming from Division 1B and winning the league, so you take what you want from the league.
"Look, what happened last year happened, it's in the past. Anthony brought a huge professionalism to the dressing-room and to what we did at training. Micheal Donoghue has brought his own thing to it. We knew at some stage that we were going to be hit with that. It's just disappointing how we played, even in the first-half when we were on top, but we need to take the positives now going into the Clare game. If we win that, everyone will turn 180 degrees and get behind us. That's the way the Galway people are, I suppose, in a way."
Burke said he wasn't surprised Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald was quick to disassociate himself from Loughnane's comments after beating Limerick last weekend, setting up the date with Galway: "They'd be thinking we can use the criticism to our advantage in a way," added Burke, who called on his colleagues to break away from the stereotype of Galway as a mentally fragile group.
"I don't know if it is a thing that players let seep into their mind from things that are said. Maybe the general people in Galway are just... I think they might be a bit soft, like 'oh, we'll go up and compete anyway. If we win, we win, if we lose, we lose', whereas you can see in Kilkenny any fans, even talking to people, they want to win all the time. That's their mentality.
"That's kind of reflected in their players as well. We just have to keep focused on what we have to do at hand. I think things are changing though, I can see a bit of a change. There's a bit of steel coming.
"I know it mightn't have been shown the last day, but I think there is a bit coming there."