Debut Laois season a ‘fact-finding’ mission, says McCarthy

TEDDY McCARTHY warns this season is “a fact-finding mission” as he aims to get Laois hurlers competitive.

Putting their recent heavy defeats in challenge games purely down to lack of fitness, Cork’s dual All-Ireland winner faces his first competitive test as manager in the Bórd Na Mona Walsh Cup against DIT next Saturday.

Operating with an extended panel of 50 players, McCarthy has been delighted with the response he has got from them.

However, the games against UCC, WIT and Waterford on Sunday have shown up the poor fitness levels.

“You can play all the challenge games you want but they won’t have the same impact as a competitive game. It’s only when we play DIT will we know where we are.

“The whole idea is to be competitive and get them to that standard. We’ll find out a lot about the players but we only started in the first week of the month and we’re only finding our feet at the moment.

“We’ve had a few trimmings but I’ve told the players they’ve all been down to fitness which would be on the bottom rung of the ladder.”

He added: “The county gave me a three-year term which might sound like a lot but it’s to be reviewed at the end of every year.

“It gives a bit of continuity to the whole thing which is positive for me and the players too because the first year is a fact-finding mission.

“Hopefully, we’ll hit the ground running in 2013.”

McCarthy is conducting physical training on Tuesday and Friday nights but attendance at the midweek session hasn’t been good because so many players, namely students, are residing outside the county.

“Numbers would be down on Tuesday nights because so many lads are away in colleges. It’s only on Fridays that we get things going but that’s the nature of the beast and we can’t really do much about it.

“It’s not like in Cork or Dublin where you have virtually all your players in the county all of the time. They are the cards we’ve been dealt and we have to work with them.”

McCarthy agrees taking the Laois job now is more difficult than last year when the second rung of the Allianz League wasn’t as strong.

“We’re in 1B which is going to be very competitive. I think the maximum any team will get will be eight points so if you pick up three wins you might have a chance of qualifying.

“We’re away to Offaly in our first game, a local derby, and that will be a difficult assignment but if we were to get something out of it, we’d have built a bit of momentum.

“Our next two games at home to Clare and Limerick, the teams people are fancying to be the finalists.

“We need to get off to a winning start but I’m sure Offaly are saying the same themselves.”

So far, McCarthy is not feeling the 160-minute return journeys between his native and adopted counties too much.

He’s eager to lift Laois even if it requires patience and time.

“There are a lot of structures to be put in. I can’t do that without the help of the players and I just want to bring a professional approach to the whole thing.

“I’ve played with a lot of players in Cork at the highest level. Since I retired, I’ve only had two years out of coaching.

“I get a fierce kick out of it, it’s the next best thing to playing and I like to challenge myself against the best around.

“Laois will be a challenge but it’s not one I will shirk.”