LEINSTER SHC FIRST ROUND:LAOIS AGAINST Carlow, this Saturday evening, in Portlaoise. No live TV and tickets freely available. It's hardly the most glamorous way to begin the race for the Liam McCarthy Cup but it's a big occasion for the two counties nonetheless, and particularly for Carlow.

It’s the first time since 2004 that Carlow have started out on level ground with the top hurling counties in the country, and even with the overwhelming impossibility of them actually winning anything outright, the very fact that they’re there, competing firstly against Laois, represents significant progress.

Plus the winners on Saturday evening get to play Dublin on June 6th, and we all know the attention that will bring.

After years of instability, the structure of the hurling championship appears to have settled down again – for better or for worse, depending on who you listen to.

Carlow manager Kevin Ryan has mixed feelings on that, and would actually prefer an open draw, but for now he’s more than content to be where he is, taking Carlow into a proper hurling championship match, where he’s no longer fearful of losing, but rather hopeful of winning.

Until this year, the winners of the Christy Ring Cup had to contest a Liam McCarthy relegation play-off to earn the right to play against the big boys, and that’s where things got messy.

As a sort of compromise, it was then agreed the winners of Christy Ring Cup had the option of being promoted, although no county would be relegated.

Carlow won the Christy Ring Cup the last two years in succession, with Ryan taking charge last year, and thus feel more than qualified to take their place at the top table.

“I think the rule we have makes a lot more sense,” says Ryan. “Carlow have done well in the Christy Ring Cup, won it the last two years, and that was all about striving to get back to Liam McCarthy status.

“To be able to compete at that level was what we wanted. It’s a major step up again this year. But it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to. Because it’s where we want to be.”

Laois make for ideal opponents in the first round given the close battles of recent times. Laois did beat Carlow in the last round of Division Two in the league, after both counties had at one stage contested for promotion, and also beat them in a promotion/relegation play-off two years ago, but Carlow’s league campaign was still highly satisfying, most notably in beating Wexford – reversing a 25-point defeat from the previous year.

“Well Laois wouldn’t be a mile ahead of us,” adds Ryan. “Like ourselves though Laois would have been striving towards the championship. It’s there to have a shot at, rather than not get the chance at all.

“The only way we’re going to be able to compete at this level is to get the shot at it, and try to get more consistent from year to year.

“The league this year was huge for counties like Carlow, particularly when you had teams like Wexford and Clare in there with us. It was a huge opportunity to learn more about ourselves. We were more up for those games. We learnt a lot from there, and that’s what it will take to get the consistency over the years.

“We’re certainly not ready for Division One yet. But we’re more ready than we would have been 12 months ago. And in another 12 months’ time who knows. So it wasn’t really our objective this year, no. But maybe in time it will.

“It’s about getting into a position to compete with teams traditionally seen as above us. If we start beating them then we can dream about moving on further.”

With the Carlow footballers beaten by Wexford last Sunday, there is every chance of the hurlers progressing further in the championship – reversing trends of recent years.

Ryan, a Waterford native, is still relatively new to the Carlow hurling scene having come in last year, but says there is minimal crossover between football and hurling right now – although that may change.

“We would have couple of under-21s who would play some football as well. There would be one or two of those that could well be on the football panel. But they’re not really dual players. They are committed to the hurling.

“My honest opinion on this is that it’s up to the player which game they want to play, but it’s just not realistic to play the two. For the players’ sake, really, because eventually they’ll succumb to injury.

“Maybe as hurling takes some more precedence there might be a need for more co-operation. For a long time really the footballers and the football clubs would have dominated, but it’s getting a lot closer to 50-50 now. But for such a small country, without only limited resources, it’s important to work together. It’s not an issue really right now.”

What Ryan says may be an issue is the future structure of the hurling championship, which he does have some ideas about: “To be honest I think if they brought it up to 16 teams, four groups of four, with the top two in each group coming from the All-Ireland quarter-finals, I think it would be fairer, give everyone three games.

“I’m a fan of the Munster championship myself, and maybe it will go over time, because it’s the only thing really holding us back at the moment. Because the way you have it now it’s really the Munster championship and then everyone else.

“That’s why I think it will progress to an open draw in some form or another. The reality is the GAA are poor in promoting their own games.”

But that’s for another day. Saturday in Portlaoise is where Carlow want to be, for now.