Luxembourg. Round 1.

Five days to Round 1 of the 2011 Benelux Championship. After nearly two months of training, it's finally time to let loose in Luxembourg.

We have fond memories from last year when the A team became the first team to wrestle the tournament trophy from the home team's grip in over ten years. The final performance against Den Haag was one of our most complete to date. It was also the day when the B team came to life, claiming an incredible third place finish.

We head into the first tournament of the year with a host of the usual unknowns. Players have left, like Big Jim, Collins, Enda (retired) and one or two more. James O'Dowd, Michael Hough, Paul Gavin, Shane Griff, Alan Rowan remain unavailable in the early part of the season due to soccer and other commitments. There are new faces too and Saturday will be the first opportunity to show their worth.

Even with all these absences mentioned, we are averaging around 25 at training each night. Eoin & Conan have decided to split the panel evenly this weekend. It's something Eoin pushed me to do a few times last year but I mostly relented. On one occasion, against Kilmacud Crokes, we did do it and the results were good as both teams eliminated our guests and contested the mini-tournament final. Looking at the panel for the weekend, we have a lot of guys at the same level and maybe it isn't as black and white as in the past in terms of selection.

Saturday will challenge everybody to step up and take the lead. If it works, we will come away comfortable in the knowledge that the panel is strong. If the teams perform poorly then it’s a case of nothing lost nothing gained. The ultimate prize will be contested in the autumn. However, I'd expect both teams to be competitive and the target should be to get both to the semi's and one to the final.

I'm down to play in goal at the weekend as the recovery plan isn't quite on track. I've trained once a week for the last few weeks and have done more and more with each passing week. The reaction after training hasn't been good though so I will bide my time a bit longer. It's tough. As you build back up into it, you want to push yourself more and more and there is nothing like the action out the field when you are pitted directly against an opponent.

Anyway, minds now turn to Saturday. We get so few outings that you tend to spend more time thinking about them in the build-up. You'd be running through all the scenarios and conditions; big, small, fast or slow opponent. Greasy or dry ball. Rain or sun. High ball or low ball. How you will deal with a multitude of situations you will face over the day.

Bring it on.