Dublin hurlers target first Leinster SHC for 13 years
Pictured is Conor Burke (Dublin) at St. Vincent’s GAA club in Dublin at Centra’s launch of the 2026 Senior Hurling Championship and the Centra GAA Sharpshooter Competition. Winners will receive a €1,000 prize for their local GAA club plus the opportunity for their team to play at the 2026 Hurling for Cancer Research Charity Match later this year.
By John Harrington
Conor Burke isn’t afraid to admit that the Dublin hurlers have targeted winning the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship this year.
The Metropolitans last won the Bob O’Keeffe Cup in 2013 and you have to go all the way back to 1961 for the time before that, but Burke believes it’s a realistic proposition for the current generation of players if they can play to their full potential more consistently.
“Yeah, we're not shying away from it, we want to be Leinster champions in 2026 and it's something that we're openly targeting within the group,” said Burke.
“But we’re under no illusions that we need to solve the inconsistency. You need to bring huge levels of performance every single day and not just on one particular day.
“If we want to get to where we want to get to we need to up the consistency and bring that.
“I think everybody in the group knows that when we're on our day we can beat any team, we can put it up to any team.
“I think everybody is under no illusion of the talent that's there and what we can do on any given day, but the challenge for us is bringing that consistency and bringing that every single day.
“I think there's a gap there for us that we need to solve if we want to be successful and get to where we want to get to, really.
“We're trying to get under the hood of it, and I don't think it's any one reason.
“I think it can be a multitude of reasons, but it's something that we're aware of and something that we're trying to focus on and just trying to bring maybe a particular mindset every day.
“But, yeah, it's not an easy one to crack. If it was, we would be bringing that."
Dublin start their provincial campaign with a trip to Glenisk O’Connor Park on Saturday to play Offaly and Burke is expecting a tough game.
“Offaly have been in 1A this year so they've got some brilliant games under their belts. Last year we won one against them and lost one against them, so nothing between us in that side of things.
“We're expecting a big challenge and a big contest on the day. They'll obviously be home.
“They'll have a good home crowd behind them so they'll definitely fancy their chances but we'll be under no illusion of the levels of performance that we'll need to deliver to come out on top because every game is going to be very competitive, particularly this year.”
