National Hurling LeagueIt must be something of a record when Ger Loughnane happily agrees with old adversaries Babs Keating and Gerald McCarthy, although we'll see how long that lasts. For now, all three managers are unified in their serious approach to this year's Allianz Hurling League, and also to the familiar issue of referees.

With Loughnane sitting in the middle for yesterday's media launch of new league there was little room for small talk, and inevitably the conversation steered towards how the games are officiated. That GAA president Nickey Brennan was also sitting at the top table didn't seem to matter because with Loughnane there is no time like the present to say what you feel.

"What we're really seeing with referees at the moment is a lack of common sense," said the Galway manager.

"Refereeing is not just about the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as well. To see Tommy Dunne sent off last weekend (in the All-Ireland club semi-final) was very sad, and something he did not deserve.

"I've watched Tommy over the years and he's always been the supreme sportsman. Always very competitive as well, but to see his career end on that note was a travesty, and very regrettable."

Keating called for the whole matter of playing rules to be re-examined, especially the use of yellow cards: "We had something like 20 yellows in a game in Mayo there recently, and that's totally nonsense. If you look at say soccer, it takes an awful lot more to get a yellow card, so I just don't think this is justified, and the whole issue of ticking and yellow cards has to be looked at again. There needs to be more understanding."

And McCarthy echoed his Tipperary and Galway counterparts: "More and more, common sense has been taken out of the referee's hand. And I think that has to be restored, because at the moment they seem to be under more pressure to take out the yellow card."

It was clear Loughnane was back where he wanted, in the thick of intercounty management. Taking over in Galway, he reckoned, was merely a natural progression, even though he'd sworn he'd never return after finishing with Clare.

"What happened was that at the end of my time with Clare I was so exhausted from the effort put in over the six years that I was convinced I would never go back to the game.

"I went into the television side, but then after a while you feel like a bit of a fake, because you're five or six years away from the game. And your natural instinct is to be part of the game, down on the sideline.

"I had decided that it was going to be my last year in television anyway. Because that has a shelf life, and my life was definitely over. People get tired of hearing the same view the whole time.

"And then if you were looking for a team that would give you a real challenge it would be Galway. I wasn't going to go back to Clare. It all happened so quickly, but I don't regret one minute since I went back there."

Loughnane has never been shy regarding pressure and one of the first things he said when taking over in Galway was he'd deliver an All-Ireland within two years, or he wouldn't deliver at all. No regrets there either.

"Well you can't go in to Galway and talk about team building. You have a huge amount of talented players there already, you're not starting out with a gang of young lads. You're starting out with a lot of players in their prime, and if they can't produce the goods over the next two years then they can't produce it at all, in my opinion.

"So I'm under no illusions here. I'm under huge pressure, but without pressure I wouldn't go near it again. The pressure gives you the buzz, and drives you on, and that's why I like to keep a tight timeline. If after two years we haven't produced I'd deem it a failure."

No surprise, then, that all three managers intend taking the upcoming league very seriously: "I've often been accused of having a nonchalant attitude towards the league," added Loughnane, "but this year we've only five matches for sure, to straighten out our panel. So it's vital for us to stay in the league as long as we can, because we don't play a championship game until June 30th. That's a long way from April 1st. So finding the right team combination is the big challenge between here and when the league is over."

And again Keating agreed: "We have a bye in the Munster championship, so it's of vital importance that we get to the latter stages of the league. If we don't there's a huge vacuum between April and Munster championship on June 11th. It can get very monotonous after all the training we've done, if you haven't a stepping-stone of league quarter-final or semi-final.

"All managers are the same, though, in that we're trying to do the best with what's available to us. The unfortunate thing about hurling at the moment is that there can only be one winner.

"Despite the efforts I make or any other manager here makes, if we don't win the All-Ireland at the end of it we'll be deemed a failure."