Despite their progress, Offaly are ready for a challenge

OFFALY hurling manager Mike McNamara admitted that his side need to start challenging for titles again.

And he is targeting this year’s Leinster SHC as a starting point.

Though they missed out on a place in the NHL’s top six play-off, the former Clare trainer is encouraged by his side’s progress.

“People talk about standards and the standards are there to be seen but it’s up to managers to get their teams up to that standard if you’re going to survive,” said McNamara.

“If they can’t do that, well, I suppose it’s time for a reappraisal at the top. I have the players.

“We’re not talking about the famous three-year plan. We’re there now although we’re carrying a few injuries. Ger Oakley is a big loss to us, Michael Cordial is carrying an injury, but they’re not long-term.

“Everything is geared to bringing Offaly back to where it was. As you can see, there’s a whole new team. Brian Whelahan was infectious out there for us [against Wexford] and he gives us huge confidence. The next oldest player we have to Brian is Gary Hanniffy who is something like 24 so the future is bright. But we’re talking about the immediate future.”

The ambition to break the Kilkenny stranglehold is something that Offaly and indeed all of Leinster must be using as a motivational tool.

“I’m happy with how things have gone and Leinster needs us,” McNamara admitted. “It’s been a disaster for a number of years now and it’s up to Offaly at this stage to stick their chest out and prove that hurling is alive and well and on the up. I’m not afraid of anybody in Leinster this year. You look at that Wexford team and there’s good hurlers out there. It’s only a matter of getting things right. Having said that, I wouldn’t be afraid of getting Wexford in the championship.”

The Offaly manager has every reason to be upbeat after his side’s league results so far. The loss to Padjoe Whelahan’s Limerick was the only game in which Offaly failed to click, but that was understandable according to McNamara.

“We had a good league. We had an awful hiccup against Limerick which was to be expected. There was all sorts of hype about it and I think it affected everybody, including myself.

“We beat Tipp, we arguably matched Cork and we beat Wexford. We have made progress and I’m really happy with the way things are going. It remains to be seen how we respond to the challenge when the summer comes but we expect to do well in it.”