David Burke says he's not ruling out a return to Galway as he prepares for a different role with the Tribesmen for the rest of 2023.
While this summer is a write-off for the St Thomas' clubman, he will be at Salthill with the squad on Saturday as Wexford come to town for their Leinster round robin opener.
Galway have a good record against the Yellowbellies, with the All-Ireland semi-final of 1996 the last time they lost out to the men from the south-east in championship.
But with Kilkenny to come the following weekend, the pressure is on for the hosts at Salthill knowing they will need to avoid two consecutive defeats to keep progress in their own hands.
Burke says he felt he still had something to give at the start of the year but an ACL injury in training last month means his inter-county career hangs in the balance.
"It is disappointing because I definitely still feel I can help the team to perform to the best they can," he said, at the launch of the Kellogg's GAA Cúl Camps.
"When you're in the set up and you're playing, you have to believe that way, that you can offer something. That's frustrating, but it's gone now."
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The 33-year-old captained Galway in their greatest hour in the modern era.
That was nearly six years ago now as they saw off Waterford to claim their only Liam MacCarthy triumph of the last 34 years.
But does such a serious injury mean we've already seen him play for Galway for the last time?
"I sat down with the surgeon and was mentioning the end of the year as a target," Burke points out.
"I know it's a bit under the timeframe that they set for a cruciate recovery injury, but club championship is something that I could possibly be back for, depending on how we get on.
"I could get setbacks as the year goes on, with the injury - I'm prepared for that. You just have to see how the body is when the time comes. You could end up going back training with Galway and it just mightn't work out, so you just have to step away.
"All these possible scenarios are in your head and you're thinking about them, but we'll just have to see when the time comes. I'm not ruling it out but we'll see.
"When you're pushing on, and you're a little bit older, things get a little bit harder and recovery from injuries do tend to slow down a little bit. I'm not writing it out of the equation, but it's something we'll have to revisit later on in the year."
In the meantime though Burke will have a different role as he looks to offer advice to some of the younger players that Henry Shefflin has brought through during his season and a half in charge.
"Henry put in a good few new lads last year, he has trusted them. He has done the same again this year. A lot of guys have got a lot of game time, there are a lot of guys putting their hands up which is great.
"They are always going to be looking for a bit of advice and stuff like that around loads of different things - how they might play in certain positions or whatever the case may be. You offer them a little bit of support.
"They will bounce ideas off you and you tell them what you might have done or worked for you, back in the day, in big games.
"Every player is different, every player will do different things in the lead up to a championship game. So that is why the experienced players will have that ability to help the younger guys and to pull them along, to tutor them in that way."
Despite the disappointment of not being on the field, Burke says he'll be doing his best to make himself useful in whatever way he can on Saturday as Galway look to hit the ground running in Leinster.
"You might be just there on matchday, chatting to the lads, having a bit of craic, keeping them relaxed, whatever it is," he says of his role on the day.
"It's for me to learn as I go along now, it's completely new. But I'll be there helping out, watching the match up top, and helping out the guys who are putting in a couple of stats, or watching shape, or different parts of positioning.
"If you can pick out one or two things, and give lads a bit of feedback at half-time, stuff that you might see. At the end of the day there mightn't be anything that you'd have to do, but at least you're there and you feel part of it.
"That's important to keep my own sanity as the summer goes on, and be involved in the matches and feel that you're contributing to the squad."
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