Lorcan learning to stay positive

ALLIANZ HL DIVISION 1B:

The vagaries of a two-year Masters degree meant he could only play in the competition during one year of the course and so he was ineligible to be part of the panel after his 2013 involvement.

He still felt the loss to Waterford IT, however, especially as he has experienced a bit of final defeat as a player.

As well as last year’s All-Ireland defeat by Clare, he was also on the CIT team beaten by UCC in the 2012 Fitzgibbon final, but he sees these as experiences from which to take the positives.

“Once you’re consistently winning and getting to finals, then obviously you’re in a good place,” he said.

“It’s hard to get to finals and not win, but I’d always feel that when you lose then you learn something, but you have to keep looking forward too. If you look at last year, we had some good performances but even in the matches we won you can find parts which can be improved upon so that’s what you try to do with all games.

“You don’t want to be getting bogged down with things so what we’ve tried to do is pick out certain aspects of those matches and see how we can better them.”

Cork face Offaly in Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League in Páirc Uí Rinn tomorrow (3pm), seeking to remain in the race for immediate promotion back to 1A.

Though the Rebels are out of the spotlight, McLoughlin doesn’t feel it makes things easier.

“I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that view,” he said. “There won’t be any game that’s going to be totally easy, the league is a competitive one and teams are always going to take points off each other.

“Even the last night against Laois, we won by seven points but for a lot of the match they used a defensive system we found difficult to break down.

“You’re always working hard in training and then trying to implement the things from there into matches but it’s not going to be completely straightforward.”

Especially when Cork are seen as a scalp worth taking.

“That’s definitely the case,” McLoughlin said. “Teams are going to up their game when they play against Cork. “Even aside from that, you have to take into account that they simply want to win for the sake of getting points too. Offaly have lost two matches already so they’ll be coming down trying to get on the board and they’ll be totally focused on that. We’re working during the league on building a panel but you still need to have a strong team out every weekend if you want to win. The competition for places is definitely increasing, even from the Fitzgibbon last weekend there were fellas putting their hands up and that can only be good.”

Though McLoughlin – now in his fifth year on the panel – isn’t necessarily one of those who needs to impress management, he’s not content to stand still either.

“When you turn 24, you’re probably turning a corner in terms of being regarded as one of the more experienced players,” he said. “It happens without you realising it, the panel has changed hugely in the time that I’ve been there, but at the bottom of it all you still try to take the same approach as always. I try to look at my weaknesses and make sure I keep adapting. The bottom line is that you have to make sure you’re working hard.”

On the off-chance he’s not, then surely Kanturk clubmates Anthony Nash and new Cork colleague Aidan Walsh will remind him before too long. The club having such a representation is something which he believes can be beneficial on the field.

“There has been a bit of slagging alright,” he said, “I suppose it is a bit unusual to have three players from an intermediate club. Aidan has been a huge addition to the panel, and so have Eoin Cadogan and Damien Cahalane. The management definitely aren’t bringing fellas in just for the sake of it, they want to increase competition and that’s what has happened. Aidan is very powerful and competes well in the air, so you’d be conscious of that and then in a match it’s probably easier to do something instinctively when you’re so familiar with a player and aware of his strengths.”