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Justin McCarthy is Antrim's veteran rebel with a cause

Justin McCarthy delivers a team talk during his stint as Limerick manager  
Justin McCarthy delivers a team talk during his stint as Limerick manager   Justin McCarthy delivers a team talk during his stint as Limerick manager  

ANTRIM hurling's new assistant manager Justin McCarthy believes there is no end to the county's rich potential and has urged everyone to get behind new boss PJ O'Mullan.

Cork native McCarthy was persuaded to be part of O'Mullan's backroom team after the former Loughgiel Shamrocks manager was unveiled as successor to the outgoing Kevin Ryan last month.

McCarthy brings a wealth of experience to Antrim, having managed Waterford and Limerick in recent years. His links with the Saffrons date back to 1970, when he was first approached to help coach the county. Since then, he's been a keen follower of Antrim's fortunes and is convinced the county hurlers can move up the ladder again, despite suffering Championship and league demotions in 2015.

“I’ve been watching Antrim’s progress over the last number of years. I’m a hurling man through and through and I like to see hurling teams progressing and going up the ladder, so to speak," McCarthy explained.

"But Antrim have fallen back and I didn’t like to see that happening because of the connections I have up there. I went up there 45 years ago, in 1970. I got a call from Neill Patterson and Frank Smyth and went up and helped then. This time, it’s a case of trying to get out of what is basically Division Three - Division 2A or 2B, call it what you like - it’s still the third rung. So I said I would help out in any shape or form and I hope I can do that.”

Despite Antrim's lowly league position and the prospect of playing Christy Ring hurling in 2016, McCarthy points to the success of the Antrim clubs at All-Ireland level and says there should be no barrier at county level.

“The hurling at club level in Antrim is very good from what I’ve seen," he added.

"So it’s not like I'm going into a county where there is no interest in hurling and that nobody cares about it and the whole thing is in disarray. But that’s not the case in Antrim. The club players are of a very, very high standard - and if they can give the same commitment to the county team, with a good set-up within the county team, the whole thing could be transferred from club to county very easily and very quickly.

“I don’t think the county is at a low ebb, hurling-wise," McCarthy said.

"It’s too good a county to be going backwards. The county is very famous and a few great players came out of it and a few great clubs came out of it. The facilities are great up there. There is no need to be going backwards. There is a new management, a new set-up and it’s a case of everybody putting their shoulder to the wheel and to say: ‘Yeah, we’re going to do it and be very positive about it'.

“We want to move forward and bring Antrim up to a level. They can go up to any level they want to, really, but to move forward from where they are and start thinking that we’re not going to be third rate any more.”

Last month, O’Mullan beat former Cork hurler Ger Manley, Waterford native Jim Greene and ex-Tyrone boss Mattie Lennon to the Antrim post vacated by Kevin Ryan in August. O’Mullan enjoyed a hugely successful spell with his club Loughgiel Shamrocks, where he won an All-Ireland title in 2012 as manager.

After a host of ‘outside’ appointments, McCarthy insists the time is right for an Antrim man to take charge again and he hopes the players can put their club rivalry behind them as the squad prepares for next month’s Walsh Cup.

“Antrim have to look after their own affairs and, by somebody from Antrim, PJ can get people around him then and I know he’ll be very welcoming. Like, people cut strips off one another in club matches and they fight and argue and get stuck into each other. It’s like that in all counties - Cork, Waterford, Tipperary, Limerick, you name it - they’ll all row in behind the county team and that jersey.

“There is nobody bigger than the county jersey. There’s an Antrim man in charge; there’s a very good set-up there and they’ll be hardworking. They’ll have one agenda, which will be to lift Antrim standards and go up the ladder at county level. I hope I can put my two-pence worth in too.”

McCarthy added: “Everyone has to be very positive about this. Everybody needs to be singing from the one hymnbook and they’re all in it for one cause - not a selfish cause - but getting Antrim up where they should be in the game. That’s the way I see it. No ifs or buts. The players are there, the talent is there; the goalkeepers are there, there are plenty of good backs, midfielders and forwards.

“All they need now is to be guided along as a group and go for broke.”

McCarthy believes Antrim need to get back to basics and that previous managers probably over-complicated the game which, he said, didn’t suit the team’s natural flair.

“Players must be left to express themselves," he said. 

"If you box them in too much, you don’t get the best out of players. There’ll be certain times we’ll have to tighten up here and there. We want to see players express themselves; good movement, good score-taking, playing fast hurling. Antrim are good at that. You can box players in too much.

"Players have to be able to read a game as it goes on. You can’t be programming players all the time. The players are the masters on the field at the end of the day. That will suit Antrim hurling. I can see from their club teams that they’re a team of expression, a team of flair, and I’d like to see that at county level as well.”

Antrim will open their Walsh Cup account away to Laois on January 3 and are away the following week to Dublin (Sunday, January 10), before hosting UCD on Sunday, January 17.