Louth hurling managers look forward to opening game

Louth senior hurlers enter a new chapter, as recently ratified joint managers, Paddy McArdle and Diarmuid Murphy step into the role to take over from Trevor Hilliard.

They are joined by Laois man Derek Dunne, whose appointment as coach and selector adds an external edge to a familiar set-up. For McArdle, the shared leadership model is built on trust already established.

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He said: “It should work okay in paper because myself and Dee (Diarmuid Murphy) was obviously here last year and starting the year before, we've built up a fairly good relationship over the last two years.

“When Trevor (Hilliard) stepped away from the role, we had a good chat about it. We went through the ins and outs of what it's going to take, who's going to do what, and so far, so good, it's been working well.

“We're both taking on the management role, and we're both basically getting our hands into everything.”

The management team believes variety is a strength, not a complication.

“I have different qualities to what Dee has, and Dee has different qualities to what Derek (Dunne) has and whoever else is in the setup, you know, so everybody is able to bring something to the table.

“Derek is going to be taking a lot of the training, but he's also going to help out a lot with the management end of it, too, as he comes from a wealth of experience.”

Dunne’s success with Down camogie is viewed as a big asset.

“He's going to look at it with a different sort of run a different eye over it than we're going to run over it. So yeah, he'll bring a fresh bit of cynicism as well, that he wants success, he's very clear that he wants success.

“He's very well driven, and he's already talked about what he expects, he's chatted with the players, we've had a good conversation about where we want to go this year, how we want to achieve it, and yeah, he'll bring a completely different dynamic.”

Early engagement with players has been encouraging.

“Brilliant response, absolutely. We've got nearly everybody in that we want so far; we still have two or three names we're working on.

“Probably the way we're going to get them in is show them that the thing's going right, that we want success here, and probably the best way to do it is put results on the field.”

Louth retain access to three inter-county permits, though two slots remain open.

“With Conor's one, Conor's going to stay, Conor Clancy, the goalkeeper, he's still outside. Leon (Fox) has transferred to Fechins, as we know, and John Casey has transferred to Naomh Moninne, so it's open for two more spots for us.

“We had looked at one or two, but they've committed elsewhere, but we're constantly looking for two or three to come in to try and bolster up the squad now.”

The Conor McGuirk Cup provides an immediate competitive platform.

“Probably the biggest advantage is you don't have to go looking for challenge matches; you go straight into competitive matches.

“You get probably two, two and a half weeks training, we break for Christmas for a few days, and then we're back out at the beginning, straight away to competitive matches on 3rd January.”

Promotion to Division 3 brings tougher tests, but not hesitation.

“Absolutely, we did talk, myself and Dee talked about this as well. If we didn't think that this team was capable to play at that level, we probably would have been reluctant to get involved.

“We've got a few of them lads, and we're not one bit afraid to work at that level.”

Short-term ambition is clear.

“You always have to set yourself targets. The target is just stay in that division for now. We will have a look at it.

“That's not saying that we can't challenge for a league. That's just saying the main target is stay at that higher level and try and build on it.”

Preparation is already sharply focused.

“For example, Armagh on the first game of the league. We want to make a statement. That's what we're doing.

“Everything that we do from now to the first league game, it's built around Armagh. It's built around how can we get a result against this team, and this is how we're going to go about doing it.”

For Diarmuid Murphy, the move from player to manager has been demanding but rewarding.

“Tough, so it is. Very hard to close your mouth on the sideline, never mind anything else, haha. No, I'm enjoying it, I am enjoying it. It does take a lot of time.

“But no, I am enjoying it, looking forward to this year with Paddy, looking forward to putting our own stamp on things.”

He is quick to dismiss any notion that Louth’s three-club structure limits competitiveness.

“It was, yeah, to be fair, there's nothing between the three teams, no matter who won the Championship or the Fechins winning five or whatever else, there's still not between the teams.

“Every game is competitive, no matter whether it's a junior or senior, it's all competitive all the time, and it's shown that at the county final this year.”