Carlow make their Leinster SFC bow on Sunday when they face Westmeath in Mullingar, and one player Gaelic football fans everywhere will be hoping to see a lot of this summer is their outstanding midfielder Brendan Murphy.

The former Aussie Rules recruit is, pound for pound, one of the best footballers in the country, but sadly doesn't get the same exposure as players from stronger counties because of Carlow's relative lack of success.

And after finishing second from bottom in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League and likely to be without key forwards Keith Jackson (suspected cruciate injury) and Daniel St Ledger (knee injury), all the signs are that they will struggle against their Division 1-bound opponents this weekend.

Westmeath are 1/7 with some bookmakers to set up a glamour Leinster SFC quarter-final against Dublin at Croke Park on June 1, but they would be foolish to underestimate a Carlow team who have made a mockery of league results in recent championship campaigns.

Last year, they almost caused the shock of the season when drawing with Meath before losing the replay; the year before they went one better by dumping a fancied Louth team out of the Leinster championship.

"It's disappointing to think that Louth are the last team we've beaten in the championship," laments the 6'5" army man, who has recently started a four-year course in construction and plant fitting in Cork.

"We should have beaten Meath the first day last year. We didn't put them away when we had the chance and were beaten out the gate in the replay. Laois beat us by three or four points in the qualifiers after that, so it was a disappointing end to Luke Dempsey's term as manager.

"Our problem in Carlow is we seem to lack self-belief. The old doubts can creep in towards the end of games sometimes. It's something we're working on - we need to get over that hurdle if we're to progress. People have said we're not fit enough, but I can assure you that fitness isn't an issue," adds Murphy, who has endured a number of tough training sessions of late on The Curragh, where he was formerly based.

Carlow and Westmeath haven't crossed paths in the Leinster championship since 2003 when the Lake County prevailed by 1-17 to 1-12 in a first round encounter at Croke Park. Their clash four years earlier at Dr Cullen Park will forever be remembered for the 20 yellow and six red cards (four to Carlow players) which were dished out by Cork referee Niall Barrett, who claimed he had received wrong pre-match instructions on how - what were then new rules - should be applied.

"It's a long time since we played Westmeath. There is no real history between the current set of players, but we're under no illusions," says Brendan, whose brother Brian will captain the Barrowsiders in Cusack Park.

"We saw Westmeath in the (Division 2) league final against Derry and they're a serious team. They're strong all over the field and their confidence will be high after getting promoted to Division 1. It's a big ask for us to go up to Mullingar and win - we're used to being written off - but these are the games you want to play.

"If we click, we can match them. That's what we think, anyway."

Needless to say, the Rathvilly man is hoping Carlow can leave behind them a disappointing National League campaign, which got off to a flying start with a victory over Tipperary in Thurles. They made it two wins from two when accounting for London in Dr. Cullen Park, but the wheels came off the wagon after that as they crashed to five successive defeats at the hands of Leitrim, Offaly, Limerick, Clare and Waterford.

"The league was disappointing, but we're training hard at the moment; we're giving it everything we have. We're taking each game as it comes and certainly aren't looking any further than Westmeath. If we could get a run in the championship, that would be great," he continues.

"Things were looking good in the league when we beat Tipperary and London in our first two games. But we lost our way after Leitrim beat us in Dr. Cullen Park. We got ourselves into winning positions against both Limerick and Offaly, but didn't close out those games. When you lose the momentum like we did at the start of the league, it's very hard to get it back."

Brendan is full of praise for Anthony Rainbow who, after serving as a selector under Luke Dempsey last year, was appointed Carlow manager for this season. The former Kildare star is assisted by selectors Sean Kavanagh (a club-mate of Murphy's) and Adrian Corcoran.

"As someone who isn't that long finished playing, Anthony is well up to speed with the modern game. He's one of the new breed of managers. When he speaks, you listen because of what he achieved over 19 years as an inter-county footballer.

"He's working with a lot of young players who are eager to do well and who are proud to play for their county."

Murphy first came to prominence in 2007 when he was part of the Carlow minor team that lost the Leinster final to Laois by two points. He was subsequently offered an AFL rookie contract by the Sydney Swans and spent two years in the Harbour City before returning home in September 2009, having turned down the chance to continue his Aussie Rules career with the Swans.

"I've no regrets about coming home. At the end of the day, my heart wasn't in it. As the old saying goes, 'there's no place like home'," he maintains.

Brendan's return immediately reaped dividends for Rathvilly, who defeated Old Leighlin to win the 2009 Carlow SFC title. Backboned by their 2007 minor team, Carlow had high hopes of winning their first ever Leinster U21 championship in 2010, but suffered a controversial extra-time defeat to Dublin, who went on to lift the All-Ireland.

The 24-year-old has since become the Carlow senior team's talisman, and his anticipated duel with Westmeath's John Heslin - who also had a spell in the AFL with the Richmond Tigers - should be worth the admission fee alone this weekend.

Brendan, who represented his country in the International Rules series in 2010 and 2011, is one of three brothers - Stephen and Brian are the others - to have worn the Carlow colours at senior level. All three are hoping to bring SFC honours back to Rathvilly this year after losing at the semi-final stage to Palatine in 2012.

"We're aiming to win our first county title in four years," he explains.

"Eire Og won it last year and are getting strong again. Local man John Smith is training us and we'll be looking to get back to the semi-final, and to take it from there."

Footnote: Both the Carlow footballers and hurlers will have the slogan - 'Suicide Aware: Living is Winning' - emblazoned on the back of their jerseys when they take on Westmeath and London respectively in the Leinster championship this weekend. The novel approach has been made possible by recent rule changes that have increased the amount of sponsorship and logos that inter-county teams can carry on their shirts. Tweet

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