Carlow get a shot of confidence

Maybe Liam Hayes's journalistic background makes him impatient with the anodyne protocols of intercounty management but whatever the reason, he's as forthrightly upbeat as any manager you've ever heard.

This is particularly impressive when you bear in mind the former Meath captain's debut season in county management is with the Carlow footballers, a family calling for someone whose father Jim played for the county in the only national final they reached, that of the 1953 National League. Facing into the same competition 52 years later, Hayes is aware of the possibilities as well as the gloomy reality.

"Fifty years of failure is more than a mindset, it's a truckload of negativity. I'm talking about Leinster titles because I believe in it but also because it's never been talked about in Carlow for 50 years.

"We've just one aim in mind and that's to build as much momentum as we can in the National League and then to win a Leinster title. I don't mean that lightly. I know the players available to Paul (Caffrey) in Dublin and I know the players available to Seán Boylan in Meath and our players are of as high a quality.

"There's no doubt that if you put the Meath players in a room and the Carlow players in the same room and got a manager in to pick a team I guarantee there'd be more Carlow players picked. That's not insulting the Meath lads because I know most of them but the standard of football in Carlow is very high and in fact would be higher than Meath at this moment in time.

"I'm bullish because Leinster is the weakest of the provinces and Carlow have an exceptionally talented bunch of footballers. We're obviously not on a par with the top counties but it's realistic for us to try and get into the middle 15. That's where Leinster titles are won at the moment."

He steps in at a time when the limitations of the province are beginning to inspire nearly every county. The breakthrough victories of Laois and Westmeath in recent years haven't gone unnoticed in Carlow.

"Everyone," says Hayes, "players, business community and the county board realised they wanted to achieve something." And so he was recruited at a time when Carlow were aiming high enough for rumours to associate even Mick O'Dwyer with the job.

He's thrilled with the response in the county and has seen a gruelling recent schedule of five, four and five nights a week fully met. While acknowledging the team's hard work and lack of match practice - they didn't enter the O'Byrne Cup - will hamper them in the league, Hayes nonetheless hopes to pick up sufficient wins in the campaign to maintain momentum going into the summer. Included among the innovations he has been able to bring to team preparation is the contribution of the Ireland rugby team's fitness adviser, Mike McGurn.

"Mike's just a friend who came in for one session. I asked him to pop his head in and give us a thumbs up or thumbs down and have a look at our strength session. Maybe after the Six Nations he might drop down and run a friendly eye over us again. He's the foremost fitness coach in Ireland."

As a journalist Hayes covered rugby and believes the game can offer worthwhile pointers to the GAA. "I hope to visit the rugby camp and see what Eddie (O'Sullivan) and Mike are doing in the field. You can learn so much from these guys. The GAA have been negligent in not picking up more pointers from the IRFU over the last five years. We've been looking at Aussie Rules too much. The IRFU have done a fantastic job and we should be looking at what they do at every level and trying to match strides with them.

"They've a very professional organisation and we should be monitoring the changes they make - how they deal with players, how they deal with their game - and we would improve our games."

Hayes will also be helped by his experience as a player under Boylan. "If I can be half as good a man manager as he was, Carlow football's definitely going places."