Louth hurlers ready to give league "a good rattle" says Clancy

Louth begin their Allianz National Hurling League away to Armagh on Saturday afternoon, and captain Conor Clancy believes they must take control early and start winning games on their terms.

Clancy said: “This is our third year now with the current set-up, and this should be our moving year. We've a lot of work done now, we know we can compete at this level, so it's time to really give it a good rattle now.

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“It was a real burden that we had throughout the year. And to be honest, I think a lot of it was nearly self-belief at times. Psychological, to be honest.

“Because we were going into games more so hoping that we were going to win them, rather than believing that we were going to win them.

“A lot of the time, early on in the game, we were teething teams out, trying to stay in the game. That's what we were doing subconsciously.

“Next thing you realise, right, we're in it here now, but you're at the same time, you're after giving the other team a five or six point head start, and you're trying to reel them in and reel them in.

“Especially when you look at the Nicky Rackard when they got to that stage, we couldn't get back ahead of them.

“I think we lost four games last year in the Nicky Rackard, all within three or four points, because of these bad starts. So that's something this year that we've really been focusing on.”

No more waiting

The goalkeeper says Louth have to stop waiting for a breakthrough.

“From what I've seen around the group, it seems to be not just within the group, but in the county, it seems to be a cultural thing.

“Everyone's just waiting for that one big lift, that one big win that's going to change the year, that's going to start the season, and it's just, the longer you wait for these things that don't happen.

“You can't stay away from them, you have to put in the work, you have to go out and make it happen, be more aggressive.

“We need to start being proactive in our hurling. A lot of our hurling at the minute has been reactive, wait and see what the other team is going to do.

“And if you're ever in a reactive state of hurling, you're always going to be on the back foot, you're always going to be a ball behind. So it's trying to take that initial step.

“And there is a bit of psychology in that as well, and a bit of belief, but we've done a lot of work on that now this year, and we should have turned the screw on that.”

Armagh

If there was one game that exposed Louth last season, it was against Armagh when the Wee County were in control but let it slip.

“You'd be hurling to win, you're not hurling to prevent a loss, as much as you should be trying to do.

“And especially in that Armagh game, we were to be so close, like you're saying, to get ahead, and then just defensively, we tried to hold on to what we had.

“And after getting ourselves into a great position, we should have been pushing on to finish it.

“And look, hurling is a killer as well, the game can flip in the space of 10 seconds, the last-minute goal was a real sucker punch. You see it happen all over the country; even the best of teams lose games in the last two minutes.

“So it was a very tough one to take, because if we'd won that game, we were pushing for a semi-final in the last game against Roscommon. So it was a really disappointing day.”

Outsiders

The Offaly native says outside players matter because Louth’s hurling base is limited, and the numbers make development harder.

“I think so, I think not just for Louth. I think for any county that's available of these outside players. I think it's huge. Especially if you take Louth, I can only talk about it in one circumstance.

“There's only three senior clubs, hurling and loud at the minute. I know there's two more coming up in underage, but they're only as far as minor level. So straight away, your pool is so small from what you're picking from.

“And by no means saying here that the outside players come in and take over and take charge.

“There's way more Louth leaders in this team than there are outsiders. And they're the backbone of the team. Without them, you wouldn't have Louth hurling.

“And it's great that we can come in and be a part of that. And if we can add anything at all, it's great. Any inter-county player, they always want to know more. They always want to learn more.

“Whether you be hurling Division Four, Division One, whatever it is, there's always going to be questions and answers up for it.”

Derek Dunne

Clancy says the new coaching influence of Derek Dunne is clear already, with a stronger plan and sharper structure in training.

“Yeah, we're very happy with Derek. Derek speaks very well. He comes across very well. Very passionate man. And his coaching so far has been excellent.

“He has a game plan that he knows. He wants us to hurl. I know all their training has been geared towards that.

“And yeah, we're very happy with Derek. The way he talks, the way he's setting us up. He's a very good coach. We're lucky to have him.”

Division Three

Back in Division Three, Clancy says Louth know what’s required now.

“Naturally, of course. And a lot of that is driven from within the group as well. Because we're very lucky that Paddy (McArdle) and Dee (Dairmuid Murphy) took on the job as management this year because it kept a lot of the core panel together.

“And we're in our third year now together. We started this in Division Three, we got relegated, we went down to Division Four, and we came back up. So we know now ourselves what the expectation is, what the standard is.

“Two years ago, we thought we were doing enough to stay in the league. We learned that we weren't.

“Now everything has been given a bit more, a bit more preparation, training. There's been improvements throughout the squad, throughout the management. So we're definitely in a better place.”

League target

The message for the league is simple: a first-round win and the season takes shape quickly.

“Look, our starting point is Armagh. We've had a lot of close matches with Armagh over the last two years.

“No more than themselves, we're both thinking whoever gets a win there is setting themselves up for a great league campaign, that's what we're targeting.

“But then, like you're saying, when you look at the group, there's points there to be clipped off anyone. So if you can get your act together on any given day, the home games are massive.

“If we can get, if we can win our three home games, you're sitting on six points, and you're a good bit closer to getting into a league final. And that'd be the aim.”