Laois SHC 2023

[Laois man]

Hope it happens having 10 teams. Get rid of this Senior B shit aswell. Have junior intermediate and senior and 10 plus teams in each grade then we would have more competitive chsip in all grades. Like at the moment senior B is intermediate and intermediate is junior A.

[burdizzo]

Borris will be hoping for the 10 now, anyway!

[Spiritof1915]

The harps were 10 points better but nearly bottled it again.
28 points is some scoring all the same. There the enigma of Laois hurling for sure.
Dark days ahead for BK I fear

[G@@]

A good game tonight and some lovely hurling from both sides. Both goalkeepers looked nervous at times with a few unforced errors that cost The Harps a goal and almost cost BK one also. PJ Scully was a class act for BK and has some skill, thought O'Connor for the Harps was exciting to watch - a good prospect for the future if he keeps that level of play up.
While the Harps scored 0-28, I thought in general their forwards were lacking bite overall. Didn't take their chances which should have raised at least two green flags. Borris Kilcotton were no great shakes at the back and with a bit more of a physical presence up front Harps could have bagged a few goals. No.24 a big difference when he came on in bringing that needed physicality which saw them power back and win it out.
Borris Kilcotton will certainly be bitter over how their year collapsed around them, I hope for the sakes of the club it doesn't fester and totally fall apart in the boardroom too. Laois needs all the strongholds playing at the top level and there is certainly the case for making a ten club SHC in the coming couple of years.

[BallyroanAbbey]

For those hoping for a 10 team championship would this be a debate really if it was a Ballyfin or a Ballinakill even that had been relegated, the fact that it's Borris in Ossory/Kilcotton people seem to think they have a god given right to be senior, they got to a good few finals the last years granted but they have been in free fall since 2021, I actually reckon it would have been far worse for Laois hurling if The Harps had lost last night considering the amount players they are producing underage
B/K finished bottom of there group and conceded 28 points in a relegation final they deserve to be where they are.
As for a 10 team championship Laois are currently a McDonagh Cup team, we have 21 hurling clubs in this county currently, making half of them senior would be madness in my opinion, you'd only dilute the quality of the championship bringing extra clubs in
If you want 2 additional teams then if anything there should be a North and South regional team made of the non senior teams, and even at that I'd consider getting rid of 2 more to keep the 8 team championship, at least this way every player has access to senior hurling regardless of there club status, would also reduce the amount of lads leaving smaller clubs for bigger ones too
Danny Brennan and James Keyes two great examples, playing at lower levels but well well capable of playing county never mind senior club

Finally on Borris/Kilcotton, if rumours of what's been going on down there the last few years are true, then they are better off apart because forcing a marriage just doesn't work

[Laois man]

There was a push for 10 senior teams from clubs the last 2 years so it's not just because borris /kcotton went down last night.

[Spiritof1915]

A 10 team senior championship for me is definitely worth exploring for a two year trial period. Portlaoise and ballinakill would be very competitive as it stands at senior level. 
In the format the top team in each group would qualify for semi finals.  2nd plays 3rd in quarter finals. While bottom 2 teams enter B competition/ relegation.
I'd like to think much more competitive games than what's currently on offer in 8 team format.
Plus the premier intermediate grade has been absolutely shite over the last few years where one or two teams are streets ahead of the others. Scrap it and revert to good old fashioned intermediate grade as your 2nd competition. I think this would make the grade hugely competitive.
Better games better players. The offaly championship with a similar club count and profile to ours seems to be flying.

I don't think the appetite is in laois for regional senior teams to be competitive. 

[burdizzo]

You're right - the Premier Intermediate is a nonsense.

If they re-structured the championship, they'd probably have to do the same with the leagues?

[BallyroanAbbey]

 The offaly championship with a similar club count and profile to ours seems to be flying.

I don't think the appetite is in laois for regional senior teams to be competitive.
[/quote]

In Offaly the talk is to reduce it to 8 teams atm with regional teams making the last 2 spots, and have 8 at Premier intermediate too, now the fact that a lot of players off both their all Ireland finalist in hurling and football at u20 are from smaller clubs might be part of it, but that is the talk atm, condensing senior or increasing the standard and player pool, or both

[Spiritof1915]

The offaly championship with a similar club count and profile to ours seems to be flying.

I don't think the appetite is in laois for regional senior teams to be competitive.

In Offaly the talk is to reduce it to 8 teams atm with regional teams making the last 2 spots, and have 8 at Premier intermediate too, now the fact that a lot of players off both their all Ireland finalist in hurling and football at u20 are from smaller clubs might be part of it, but that is the talk atm, condensing senior or increasing the standard and player pool, or both
[/quote]

I suppose there is no perfect formula but seems llike the right time to give it a go. The so called big 4 are no more in laois hurling. I really think that CB, RE and camross will come back into the pack over the next few years with Abbeyleix,  harps and Castletown providing the best of young talent.

Here's an article from offaly at the start of last year. At least their county board officials actually listen

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/gaa/745564/offaly-senior-hurling-championship-to-remain-at-10-teams-after-objections-from-clubs.html

[Laois man]

Our County board didn't want a change as it would be a bit more work with the fixtures for them.

[Robbo]

The so called big 4 are no more in laois hurling. I really think that CB, RE and camross will come back into the pack over the next few years with Abbeyleix,  harps and Castletown providing the best of young talent.

camross and harps will be top 2 in 5 years. And youd have camross ahead on trad and mentaltity.
RE, ballacolla, abbeyleix and maybe ctown will stay in the picture. Think some on hear rate ctown a bit too high.

i think 8 teams is right for senior but no quarterfinals. 3rd team out before Picnic and bottom teams in relegtion.

[Laois man]

How would you put harps in top 2 in next 5 years is it cause of there juvenile setup? Harps had great juvenile teams through the 80s and 90s aswell but still no senior final. Camross have 2 or 3 minor finalss in about 40 years but still have up near 30 senior finals.

[Keyser Söze]

We don't have 10 Senior teams.
Possibly 9- but 9 doesn't work well.

Leave it at 8 and go back to the format of a few years ago with a draw after every round.
Current system is killing interest and reducing competitiveness.
I cannot understand the logic in going from what we had to what we have.

I'd agree with rebranding back to Intermediate, Junior A etc. 

[Laois man]

Who is your 9s team?