After playing in the opening game of Kerry's 2024 Allianz League campaign, Micheál Burns has chosen to step away before the inter-county season gets into the swing of things.
The Dr Crokes forward has played an important role off the bench in the championship for the Kingdom the past two seasons, appearing in both the 2022 and '23 All-Ireland finals as a substitute.
He has been a member of the Kerry senior panel since 2018, winning an All-Ireland medal ('22), and five Munster titles in that time.
Burns' departure felt sudden, given he started the opening game of Kerry's league campaign against Derry in late January (though he did not feature in the following game against Monaghan), and that he has been a crucial panel player in recent years.
Speaking to Balls.ie this week, Clare hurling great Tony Griffin - who has worked as a performance coach with Kerry since 2022 - explained why he and the management team had accepted Burns' decision to step away, and said that the time was right for both parties.
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Tony Griffin explains Micheál Burns' decision to step away from Kerry panel
Griffin revealed that he had known the decision was coming for some time, and described it as ultimately being "mutual":
You need to know when to let these lads make their decisions.
I’d be in regular contact with Micheál, I became very friendly with him. He’s such a lovely fella, heart on his sleeve kind of guy. I knew it was coming and I spoke to him last night. I was aware he was going to be leaving the panel and he wasn’t getting what he wanted.
I think it was more mutual than anything so when I knew it wasn’t from one side I decided to just leave him at it and then spoke to him last night.
Griffin's comments somewhat echo those of Kerry manager Jack O'Connor on Monday, when the news broke of Burns' departure.
30 July 2023; Jack McCaffrey of Dublin in action against Micheál Burns of Kerry during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
O'Connor said that Burns had "come to that stage" in his career where he felt the efforts expended on being part of the Kerry panel were not being rewarded sufficiently.
"He's 27, and possibly didn't feel he was getting the game time that was going to keep him happy and motivated," said O'Connor, "in a panel of over 30 players, you can't keep everyone happy."
The abrupt exit of Burns from the Kerry panel leaves questions as to what is next for the Crokes forward. Tony Griffin says that the time after retirement can be the trickiest for a sportsperson, and that he had given Burns advice from his own personal experience on how to handle the transition out of playing:
If you read Dan Carter’s book, and I found it myself, the big part that is so underestimated is when you retire from something you have done all your life and all of a sudden your identity doesn’t have that attached to it, it can leave a massive void.
Now, I busied myself with other things. I’d other things to go onto. But the likes of Micheál, he's a teacher, his world is small without football so we spoke about that last night on the phone, he could have ups and downs. It’s part of a grief or a loss.
The thing he said he’ll miss most is meeting up with the lads four times a week. Your world gets very small and they move on, it’s very ruthless. The next guy in and they’re only thinking about their individual performances, they might not have time to meet up with him.
So I was talking to him about that last night, that it doesn’t mean the friendships are gone and stay in touch with everyone. If you read Dan Carter’s book, he really struggled with that and a lot of athletes do.
Kerry will now prepare for their next league assignment - an enticing clash with Mayo in Tralee on Saturday night - without Burns.
Clare hurling legend Tony Griffin is the subject of this week's Laochra Gael, with his episode set to air on Thursday at 9:30pm.
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