Galway's 2009 captain Damien Burke is hoping Joe Kernan's appointment as football manager will transform them into All-Ireland contenders next year. There is no shortage of optimism in Galway football circles ahead of the new season following Joe Kernan's appointment as manager. Many believe the Armagh legend is just the man Galway need to become All-Ireland contenders once again. Since the Sam Maguire last crossed the Shannon in 2001, the Tribesmen have managed just one championship win outside their province and have earned a reputation for being one of Gaelic football's biggest underachievers. But hopes are high that Kernan will add much-needed steel to the attacking game they are famous for. "The perception out there is that we're a fancy team who play open, attractive football, but are lacking in steel," Galway's outgoing captain Damien Burke acknowledges. "We need to toughen up a bit and hopefully Joe will be able to instil that toughness in us. When Galway won the All-Ireland under John O'Mahony in 1998 and 2001, they played a nice brand of football, but they were well able to mix it in the physical stakes as well." Following Liam Sammon's resignation in the wake of Galway's surprise All-Ireland qualifier loss to Donegal last summer, football board chiefs in the county pulled off a major coup by securing Kernan's services for the next three years. The 2002 All-Ireland winning Armagh manager, whose mother Joan Ward hails from Ballinasloe, revealed how an arrangement to fly from Dublin Airport (which is less than an hour from his Crossmaglen home) to Galway with team sponsors Aer Arann at least twice a week made it possible for him to take the job. "I think Joe Kernan is the best possible appointment Galway could have made," Burke enthuses. "His CV is second to none and there is huge excitement around the county about him taking over the team. He has brought in Sean O Domhnaill and Tom Naughton as selectors, and they are two men who know the Galway scene inside out. "Joe met the players shortly after his appointment and everyone was extremely impressed by what he had to say and with the set-up he'll have in place. He means business - he's not going to be travelling up and down from Armagh just for the sake of it." After capturing the Connacht title and putting Kerry to the pin of their collar in a classic All-Ireland quarter-final in 2008, Galway were expected to mount a strong All-Ireland challenge this year. But after letting a place in the National League final slip from their grasp for the second successive year, they were dethroned as provincial champions by Mayo in dramatic circumstances and were knocked out of the All-Ireland qualifiers a week later by Donegal. The Corofin clubman admits that Galway's defeat to Mayo in the final round of the National League - when they only needed a draw to assure themselves of a place in the Division 1 final - was a hammerblow to their confidence. The Tribesmen led by six points at half-time, but ended up losing by 0-13 to 1-11. "After missing out on a place in the final last year, our target was to make amends this year and we had our destiny in our own hands going into the last round against Mayo. We were seven points up at one stage and had missed a penalty before they staged a great second half comeback to pip us. There was as much disappointment at the manner of the defeat as with the fact that we were denied a place in the league final for the second year-in-a-row." Outside of their facile win over London in Ruislip, Galway didn't look convincing in their championship outings either. Against Sligo at Markievicz Park, they needed a late goal from Sean Armstrong to avoid a repeat of their 2007 Connacht final defeat to the same opposition. The visitors looked set for a routine win when they charged into a 0-8 to 0-2 lead after 28 minutes. But Kevin Walsh's Sligo team eventually got to the pace of the game and were level within nine minutes of the restart thanks to an Adrian Marren free. Galway stole ahead on two further occasions, only to be pegged back by points from Sligo substitute Stephen Coen and David Kelly. When Kelly made it 0-12 apiece with just a minute of normal time remaining, the signs looked ominous for Liam Sammon's side. But after Joe Bergin restored their lead with a point, Armstrong took a pass from Padraic Joyce before rounding 'keeper Philip Greene for the game's only goal which gave Galway a flattering 1-13 to 0-12 victory. The Tribesmen weren't so fortunate in the Connacht final at Pearse Stadium. After recovering from a seven-point deficit with 20 minutes remaining to restore parity, Mayo launched one final attack which yielded the winning point for wing back Peadar Gardiner. Mayo won the toss and chose to play towards the city end of the ground in the first half. This helped them to a 1-9 to 0-7 interval lead, with Barry Moran bundling home the visitors' goal after 21 minutes. Galway should have had two goals, but Nicky Joyce fired one effort over and then fumbled in front of the target, which gave Keith Higgins enough time to recover. When substitute Conor Mortimer netted midway through the second half to put seven points between the teams, Mayo looked home and hosed. But the Tribesmen, who were looking for their first three in-a-row of championship wins over their arch-rivals since the 1980s, hit back with points from Michael Meehan, Sean Armstrong and Nicky Joyce before Meehan brought them level with a superb goal in injury-time. But Mayo had the wherewithal to secure possession from the kick-out and claim the last score which gave them a thrilling 2-12 to 1-14 victory. Six days later in Markievicz Park, Galway's championship interests were ended for another year when they suffered another one-point defeat, this time to a revitalised Donegal. The Tribesmen had put themselves in a strong position 11 minutes into the second half when Sean Armstrong nailed a glorious point from out near the sideline for a 0-11 to 0-9 lead. But with Michael Murphy in unstoppable form, Donegal drew level before Rory Kavanagh put them in front after 61 minutes and they held on for a 0-14 to 0-13 victory. "It was awful disappointing the way the year ended, we had hoped to do a lot better than we did," the Galway captain ruefully reflects. "It was heartbreaking to lose the Connacht final to the last kick of the game after doing so well to get back level. And we weren't able to pick things up in time for Donegal. Whereas we had just lost the Connacht final, they were coming off the back of a great win over Derry and their confidence was up." The Joe Kernan era has begun with an emphatic Connacht FBD League final victory at New York's expense. Burke and his Galway colleagues will hope it is only the beginning for the maroon and whites. Tweet

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