Mike Quirke: Securing the right result against a shared opposition is now our priority

The best way I could describe jumping into your first year of senior inter-county management is like taking that freezing cold shower as soon as you step out of the sauna. It awakens senses that were happily lying dormant just a short time earlier, writes Mike Quirke.

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: Laois manager Mike Quirke addresses his players ahead of the O’Byrne Cup match against Meath at Páirc Tailteann in Navan in January. Quirke has found the experience of managing at inter-county level ‘hectic, though not as mad as some would have you believe’ but the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic has made it clear to him that, in the grand scheme of things, sport is a trivial thing.

The best way I could describe jumping into your first year of senior inter-county management is like taking that freezing cold shower as soon as you step out of the sauna. It awakens senses that were happily lying dormant just a short time earlier.