Messages

I'd love if Sugrue stayed around for years. He's not perfect and he's still "learning on the job". He did make errors this year, but who doesn't. He's a fantastic person for the role. I'm sick of seeing new managers every couple of years - there's no continuity then, and inevitably we get journeymen who set the county back for years. There's a great culture of respect and working hard now, in Laois football. Nobody is guaranteed their spot. I hope Sugrue becomes a Boylan / Cody / Harte / Gavin type long - term presence within Laois football. We've made huge strides and things are looking up. I hope he has the desire to keep going with Laois. 

Mossy and people outside the country - my son uploaded this video of the highlights there. He said he couldn't record it directly from the TV so he taped it with his phone. So heads up, the quality isn't brilliant but it might be better than nothing. Make sure to set the playback to 720 or 1080p for best quality. Hope you enjoy. Tony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hFYxXm-b1M&feature=youtu.be

Mossy, my son recorded that for you on the Sunday Game, it's uploading to his YouTube now. I'll send you the link when it's uploaded. It's a big file, so it might be Irish Monday morning by the time it's all uploaded & I can send the link to you then. Tony.

Well done lads. Ye kept the faith when things weren't looking great. Ye really deserve today's result, especially Mossy . Laois abú

Thanks for the mention there, Seafoid. But all I do is sit on my arse, wearing a bath robe (blue and white, by the way), coffee in hand, yelling, LAOIS, LAOIS, LAOIS.

(a scary picture, I imagine)

You're a gas character, Mossy 

Fantastic win! Well done all!

Cork are no use Tony,  but still have faith in Sugrue but that was winnable.

You sound very confused Ballyroan. Cork just beat us by 14 points. And still you say they're no use. Bit deluded to be fair. Cork are clearly preparing for the championship, they've got a good manager now with a top record, they've gotten rid of the old dinousaur managers and tactics. The new manager knows power and pace does a lot of damage. Cork wont be a walk over against Dublin either, mark my words. They'll lose to Dublin but not by more than 6. They'll come very close to Tyrone, could go either way. They'll beat Roscommon. We lost to a good side and there's no shame in it. We'll be back stronger for 2020.

I feel bad for Colm and Mark Timmons that they didn't get more of a run of it this year. I really hope nobody retires, even Ross. I didn't see anyone who needs to retire yet. These lads mind themselves well and can go another few years (I'm referring to the Begleys / JOLs etc). Donie was really coming good the last few games and I hope he continues that into next year, he is a class player through and through. His fitness came along well as the year progressed. I hope the lads see the potential for us to be better and stick around. I also hope we see Healy and Merideth for 2020. And we could do with Zach Tuohy if he's feeling like ripping up the championship next year; what a difference he would make. Well done to all involved for the progress we've made this year. Next year it gets a bit more serious.

Brody
Healy Timmons Merideth
Attride Begley Dillon
JOL Lillis
Scully Zach Tuohy Benny Carroll
Paul Kingston  Donie  Evan O' Carroll.

Plenty of the younger lads coming through knocking at the door too, but I still see this as our best 15, strong lines, everybody playing in their best position.

Cork looked very shambolic.

Hard luck to all involved. Good year for Laois across the board, regardless. We're not at that level yet but we're making good progress. We'll be back stronger for 2020. Looking forward to switching the attention now to the underage and also the hurlers at OMP. Huge respect and praise deserved for all involved this year and thanks for some good days out along the way. Onwards and upwards

I love the confidence, I just dislike one or two posters describing Cork as "shambolic" and a poor team etc. That talk is just stupid and ignorant.

We wont fear them and we'll give our all. Let the best team win. Laois abu

19/20 neutrals would predict Cork. That's just the reality of the situation. So you can live in deluded world if you like but facts are facts. It's clear that Cork are not HOT favourites but they're certainly WARM favourites for this one. That's the consensus between all the expert journalists and any neutral opinion I've seen.

Went 5/2 on betfair for small but will go again at 2/1 same as the 15/8 in Derry

Cork Derry essentially two Div 3 teams, Cork prob worse on the way down.

I seriously doubt you've kept a close eye on Cork this season. Yes, they went down but they were playing good football come end of League, especially with the good win against Armagh (who are a serious team these days) and continued that into championship form. You're dismissing them like they're a Louth or Offaly type team. We wont fear them but they are clear favourites.

I can't see Colm Begley starting but I can see him coming on. It's not really Sugrue's style to start someone who's been out injured and just back in contention.

It wanted me to pay for that article so I declined. What does he want, the same 8 teams there every year? Yes Monaghan aren't there because they weren't good enough this year. They've clearly taken a step back. The top 6 counties are in, no doubt. If there's a surprise team in, like Laois, who would have played 5 hard games and won 4 to get to the super 8's, then let them. What about Kerry, playing two games, only one was difficult, and they're straight through to super 8s. Clearly the system needs to change to be fair to all teams. His criticism seems misguided.

Laois team named for Saturday:

LAOIS: Graham Brody (Portlaoise); Stephen Attride (Killeshin), Denis Booth (The Heath), Gareth Dillon (Portlaoise); Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Robert Pigott (Portarlington), Patrick O'Sullivan (Portarlington); John O'Loughlin (St Brigid's), Kieran Lillis (Portlaoise); Daniel O'Reilly (Griaguecullen), Donie Kingston (Arles-Killeen), Marty Scully (Ballyroan-Abbey); Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen), Colm Murphy (Portarlington), Ross Munnelly (Arles-Kilcruise).

I think it's the perfect draw, in the sense that, Cork are ahead of us on paper, yet they're not in the very top 6 counties in the country. What I mean by that, is, they're a good test to see if we're at that level, yet. If we beat them, we deserve to be in the Super 8's. If we don't beat them, then it means we're not on that level yet, and we work on ourselves for 2020. As Sugrue likes to say, it's a test to measure ourselves against better opposition and see where we're at. It really is bonus territory, now, in my opinion. But it'd be some achievement to get to the Super 8's, no matter what happens. If we beat Cork, then we certainly deserve to be there. My prediction is a 4 to 6 point victory for Cork - I think they'll have too much for us currently, but let's see how we measure up on Saturday.

Ballyroan, Cork were very unlucky in the League to go down, beating Armagh on the last day. They are a good side and their championship form has been good with an impressive showing against Kerry - one of the top 3 sides in the country. So I'm not sure if you've seen them at all this year. Having said that, I think we can have a competitive enough game with them. But to label us favourites is very questionable.