Kerry County Board chairman Sean Walsh has said Kerry will have to look at ways to cut the costs of training teams.

Speaking at a special e.g.m. in Tralee on Tuesday night when the audited accounts were presented, Walsh said: "When you are spending around a £250,000 training teams, you have to look at the situation and try to see ways of making cuts.

"Six championship games were excessive this year and there was a lot of expense involved with four trips to Dublin.

"Players are now getting 30p a mile and that also adds to the costs of training teams. The figure has to be looked at because we would not be able to sustain it." said Walsh.

Referring to GAA president Sean McCague's proposed crackdown on under-the-counter payments to team managers Walsh said: "We will have no problem in the world with it, absolutely none in this county.

"We don't do it and we won't be doing it, all our managers in this county from the lowest up to the senior county football trainer do not get any payments whatsoever under the counter and they won't be getting them either. There are no figures in the accounts for it and there won't be as long as I am in charge."

Kerry's team administration expenses for last year came to £380,262.

In hurling, Munster champions Cork make their first appearance in the National League this weekend when they travel to Portlaoise to play Laois, who lost heavily to Kilkenny last Sunday. Cork readily agreed to Kilkenny's request to postpone the scheduled meeting on the first day of the competition and had their free Sunday last week.

Manager Tom Cashman names three players from the county champions Newtownshandrum in the side. Mike Morrissey leads the attack, Pat Mulcahy lines out at centre back and Ben O'Connor is named at centrefield. Happy that his team has been spared an earlier start, Cashman is unfashionably enthusiastic about the league.

"It's vital. You're playing teams like Tipperary and Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford, teams which if you do well in the championship, you're going to meet them along the way. It's important for our guys to be able to play these players. You can hopefully try a few things out that come championship will have given you answers," he said.

Offaly introduce one newcomer for Sunday's game in Birr against Limerick. He is Barry Teehan, from the Coolderry club, who has been named at right corner forward in place of Cillian Farrell. Offaly's other two changes in personnel involve David Moran returning at left full back and Michael Duignan replacing Colm Gath at left corner forward.

Team Check

CORK (SH v Laois): D Cusack; M Prendergast, D O'Sullivan, J Browne; W Sherlock, P Mulcahy, S O hAilpin; D Barrett, B O'Connor; T McCarthy, M Morrissey, F McCormack; S McGrath, K Murray, J Deane. Subs: P Morrissey, M Landers, M O'Connell, P Ryan, J O'Connor, N Ronan, E Fitzgerald, W Twomey, D Mulcahy, B O'Keeffe.

WATERFORD (SH v Kilkenny): S Brenner; T Feeney, S Cullinane, B Flannery; V O'Shea, S Frampton, J O'Connor; P Queally, T Browne; K McGrath, S Prendergast, P Prendergast; J Mullane, P Walsh, D Bennett.

OFFALY (SH v Limerick): S Byrne; R Devery, M O'Hara, D Moran; W Comerford, J Brady, C Cassidy; A Hanrahan, G Oakley; D Murray, M Hand, B Murphy; B Teehan, J Troy, M Duignan.

WEXFORD (SH v Tipperary): D Fitzhenry; C Kehoe, D Ruth, D Guiney; L Dunne, D Ryan, M Jordan; A Fenlon, R Stafford; M Jacob, M Byrne, R McCarthy; C McGrath, L O'Gorman, B Gough.

LIMERICK (SF v Clare, McGrath Cup): A Kitson; M O'Riordan, D Sheehy, Denis Reidy; C Mullane, S Lucey, Damien Reidy; J Quane, J Galvin; D Lavin, M Gavin, M Reidy; J Murphy, J Stokes, C Hickey.