Laois Senior Hurlers 2023

[mcwregor]

Maybe I didnt explain myself very well. I dont blame the players or management. Its a bigger picture issue I was trying to get at.

[Kidder81]

Maybe I didnt explain myself very well. I dont blame the players or management. Its a bigger picture issue I was trying to get at.

Laois have the same problem the next tier of teams (Antrim, Westmeath) Lightyears behind the big teams, and while we are improving when it comes to conditioning and putting underage structures in place the established counties aren't sitting still either.

No quick fix or easy answers

[Lost soul 2]

Good 50 mins,mullaney did great up front,would love see Aaron dunphy inside for bit,could do with a worker around the middle,two lads nice wristy hurlers but missing bit of toughness.bad mix up with second goal which was a killer,fitness a bit off too but building quietly.least management trying out different options.more positives than negatives

[G@@]

Good 50 mins,mullaney did great up front,would love see Aaron dunphy inside for bit,could do with a worker around the middle,two lads nice wristy hurlers but missing bit of toughness.bad mix up with second goal which was a killer,fitness a bit off too but building quietly.least management trying out different options.more positives than negatives

Have to agree with alot of this - come post-Easter alot of folks won't be reminiscing about the league which really is a tournament to build up newcomers to any team.
Fair enough, it gets serious enough at the semis, but nobody will be loosing sleep over it come May.
Last night we lived with Waterford for long stretches, but everything collapsed post 55mins in. 

[Laois man]

Good 55.mins but to be fair we are probably 9th or 10thbest team in the country both teams we have played so far in the league have think they can win the the All ireland. We won't meet teams like that in the Joe Mcdonagh which is our level. But looking at the 2 games so far our fitness is very poor can we get much fitter before the Joe Mcdonagh? Mullaney is a forward he showed that with his club. We can win the Joe Mcdonagh but I fear kildare will cause a few shocks in it.

[Laois Rising]

In some ways I am happy with what I saw on Saturday. Laois have serious ambitions of winning the Joe McDonagh and progressing to have a crack off of top tier team in the preliminary quarter final. With both Antrim and Westmeath in the championship proper we would definitely be the highest ranked team in the Joe McDonagh. Therefore, I am happy to see Laois were competitive for 55 minutes against Waterford. It was an improvement on the week before. Also have watched Tipp blow Kilkenny away with another fast start in Nowlan Park at the weekend it would suggest that Tipp are much further down the line with where they are at in comparison to a lot of other counties at the moment. It's all about timing and if Laois continue to progress and the fitness and physicality develop week on week, we should be in good stead come start of the championship. No point, peaking for a league that we are never going to win and then go stale come championship time. From listening to couple of players involved they seem happy with set up and how things are progressing. If they players are happy then I think we as supporters should be happy. After last couple of years we need some positivity.

In relation to Mullaney I think we should stick with him at centre forward. He was probaly the stand out club player in Laois last year. He will cause problems for any of the Joe mcDonagh defences. I would like to see our players 5-9 set more in stone. While flexibility is great, I do think we now need to give them a run of games in a set position. By doing that, identify to each player specifically what their roles are and what is expected of them and let them work on that over a number of games. Changing positions week on week doesn't help with embedding in what the management might want of them exactly.

There should be a big promotional push by Laois GAA to get supporters into O'Moore Park for a local derby with Kilkenny in two weeks time. It is our last home league fixture. Teams and players feed off of energy and having that support come out in two weeks time and hopefully the players put in a performance could help the team continue on an upward trajectory.

[Giovanni]

I would also be happy enough with the showing against Waterford (although we probably shouldn't underestimate the importance of the extra man, which Laois used very well). I also thought that the ref was poor. Waterford were given at least 6-8 frees that he wasn't giving to Laois - the Waterford full-back line were persistently fouling all game and they were allowed to get away with it.

Still, I think it has to be said that the defence was opened up quite easily in the second half so that might need some work. I would also say that some of the forwards need to work harder (which would also help the defence). The big name players in particular need to provide a better example for the younger ones coming through.

Was glad to see Martin Phelan getting more into it as the match went on. He had a poor night in Tipp and didn't start well here either. But, fair play to him, he got into the game quite well after the first 20-35 minutes and really made every possession count. Good to see that attitude in the squad.

[Keyser Söze]

One thing that bugs me big time.

I heard W Maher interviewed.

"Waterford are 6 or 7 years further down the road when it comes to S&C"....

How can this actually be?

Laois set ups for the past 5 or 6 years haven't been low budget.

[mcwregor]

One thing that bugs me big time.

I heard W Maher interviewed.

"Waterford are 6 or 7 years further down the road when it comes to S&C"....

How can this actually be?

Laois set ups for the past 5 or 6 years haven't been low budget.

That has been my point all along. We are hearing the same things from different managers for years. Are waterford really further down the line in their development, they are but they shouldn't be? Its not like laois are all u20, majority of them are around 5/6 years others are their longer. We will be competitive with the joe mc teams probably forever but after that we will never be any better than that unless we go back to the drawing board and start putting plans in place for 15 years down the road.This is exactly what offaly are doing.

[High Fielder]

Top teams don't have lads coming in for a year, going away for a year, and then coming back in. You can't develop anything with such s stop start approach, different coaches regularly and every other type of shit show that we either inherit, buy or borrow. We're a mess. In both codes.

[Laois man]

I hear some of our GDAs are leaving there coaching roles within the county board aswell.

[Blow-in]

I hear some of our GDAs are leaving there coaching roles within the county board aswell.

All leaving bar one. Games Manager heading out the door it seems also. And no coaching officer either

[Laois man]

So who over sees the coaches that are in the clubs through the County board? County board needs to have a look at themselves.

[burdizzo]

Not everything that goes wrong is necessarily the fault of the county board. Are they supposed to let these boys write their own terms and conditions?

[clonadmad]

One thing that bugs me big time.

I heard W Maher interviewed.

"Waterford are 6 or 7 years further down the road when it comes to S&C"....

How can this actually be?

Laois set ups for the past 5 or 6 years haven't been low budget.

That has been my point all along. We are hearing the same things from different managers for years. Are waterford really further down the line in their development, they are but they shouldn't be? Its not like laois are all u20, majority of them are around 5/6 years others are their longer. We will be competitive with the joe mc teams probably forever but after that we will never be any better than that unless we go back to the drawing board and start putting plans in place for 15 years down the road.This is exactly what offaly are doing.

Offaly aren't planning for 15 years down the road

They are planning for now with the sponsorship they have brought in

They are planning for now with last years minors to transition to the u20 squad and beyond

They are planning for now with the schools to feed into the development squads using linkages between the clubs and schools coaching

They are planning for now with clubs coaches constantly getting up skilled

They are planning for now with giving every schools hurler (and footballer)in the county the opportunity if they are good enough to play Leinster Schools A level hurling (and football)

They are planning for now with giving hurlers in "football" clubs  the necessary coaching to play for Offaly teams and vice versa

We have had no shortage of plans in Laois and nothing to show for it