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I've been at all the senior football championship games over the past couple of weeks . I think we are in for a different kind of championship this year in the sense that it will be more open than in previous years . Portlaoise dominated for years but they are now pack with the pack . Portarlington were virtually unplayable the past two seasons but I've seen them in the league a few times this year and i seen them against Killeen and ODempseys recently. They are not at the level they were at the past two years . Port are still going to take beating but they are not altogether as strong . They are giving away easy scores and goal chances that they wouldn't of done last year or the year before . I know they are missing a few players but they don't look as strong or as fine tuned
I think we have 6 teams who can win the championship this year . Portarlington, Graiguecullen, St Joseph's, Portlaoise, ODempseys and Ballyroan Abbey. Not much between any of them at the moment .

Overwhelming interest in the Tailteann cup draw on here I see!

We got a horrible draw . No point twisting it any other way

Any word on how the practice match against Clare went ?

Laois take on Offaly tonight. Any kind of a win would be great.

Anyone have any info on injuries, team, how strong Offaly are?

Offaly bet Meath by a point but they lost to Longford well and were hammered by Kildare so I'd say they are average enough . I'd imagine it will be a close enough game tonight and it could go either way . It appears to be between Dublin and Kildare for the Leinster judging by results .

Deflating weekend for Laois GAA particularly  Aughrim Sunday afternoon.
Everything that has been said mostly resembles the truth . It's clear to see there is a wider problem in the GAA community in Laois and until that's tackled the road is going to get bleaker .
Back training tomorrow night with a large u20 presence . A mini exodus expected from the current panel which mightn't altogether be a bad thing .

What u20s are involved ?

Laois Rising, thats kinda what I was wondering with my above point in relation to coaching at schools and underage level.
I dont think we are coaching defenders to be actual defenders, the art of sticking to guys, tackling etc. Then of course by the time they get to minor or under 20 they dont have the basics at all.

I agree with Andy here that we are lacking defenders who possess the art of stick to guys and tackle properly . Another thing I would say is that our players don't have the physicality to hold up opposition players or put in hits . Our defenders also don't have the pace to stay with nippy fast forwards when they run at us . It's fierce easy to just walk the ball straight through the middle of that Laois backline without a glove being layed on you . Wicklow were able to show up these deficiencies, what would the likes of Kerry do with us out in croke park ? It beggars belief.
Another thing I will say is how can you hold Wicklow to 0-8 in the league then a few weeks later let team hit you for 5-15 in the championship and it could of been more ? It's very hard to understand.

Bad result for Offaly losing to Wexford. From what I came across of Wexford in Division 4 they weren't that great but good win for them.

Wicklow hammering Laois at the minute, another shock of sorts. Laois are really gone downhill now. I wonder is rise of Laois hurling harming football in the county. I don't think Westmeath, Offaly or Laois have the population to compete at a high level in both codes.

Since when did Laois hurling rise

Only lad I seen remotely hold him is that lad from Cork, he can destroy just about anybody else.

Plenty of lads In Laois would hold him

Think Keogh was injured, thats what I heard anyway.
Dean Brophy did play last night though, was he not at wing forward? Will they have Jason Campion back for championship, I was told last night he was abroad?
Both teams shooting wasn't hectic, which has been their weakness over the years. The kildare man kicked a few scores and will be a big help.
Also thought Diarmuid Whelan was back to his best position too at 14, scoring 2-6.

No Brophy wasn't playing last night . Danny Hickey and young Sean Brennan who is just up from minor were the two half forwards.  Im not sure what the story is with Jason Campion all I know is that he has been preliminary graded junior A this year so he might be around come championship. Joseph's have a very young team so an experienced campaigner like Eoghan OFlaherty is going to be some help

Good win for Joseph's tonight in the Kelly cup final . Both themselves and Ballyroan were missing a host of key starters so you would imagine both sides have plenty of room for improvement as the year progresses.  I do think Joseph's come championship when they are picking from a full squad are best placed to challenge Port for their crown . Anyone know why Mick Keogh wasn't playing tonight ?

Mick Keogh , James Kelly , Oisin Hooney , Dean Brophy , Adam Campion , Jason Campion, Jamie Kelly , Ian Shanahan , Seamus Farrelly were all missing for Joseph's tonight and Josh OBrien only played the last 20 mins so it will be very interesting to see how strong they are when everyone returns .

I wanted to give Billy Sheehan some pass as he has a number of players who didn't commit or were injured throughout league. However, as a good Longford GAA friend of mine told me during the game as I brought this defence out at half time, Billy O'L is working without the following mainstay players in Longford who were not available to him:

Gary Rogers (centre-back), Donal McElligot (wing/corner back), John Keegan (midfield), Rian Brady (centre forward),Daniel Mimnagh (corner forward), Liam Connerton (full forward).

Pretty much the spine of the Longford team for the last few years and best club players within county. It's probably the same for most smaller counties the levels of non-commitment. It's about getting the best tune out of the players you have. Billy certainly isn't doing that at the moment. In the modern game when kick outs and kick out strategies are of huge importance to the winning and losing of the game we were shambolic in this department against Limerick, Fermanagh and again yesterday. I know Chris and Billy want to play a traditional kicking game but they need to address this deficiency before start of Leinster championship and Tailteann Cup.

Donal McElligott, Patrick Fox, John Keegan, Gary Rogers, Rian Brady, Daniel Mimnagh, Liam Connerton, Barry McKeon ,Colm P Smyth , Robbie Smyth , James McGivney, David McGivney , Larry Moran , Ross McNerney, Liam Hughes , Peter Lynn. They are Some of the best players In Longford unavailable this year .
The Longford man beside me at the match named out 15 players they have at home that would beat the 15 they had on the pitch yesterday .
I know we have some players injured and unavailable but we just can't use they as an excuse . Mind you Longford have less than half the population of Laois .

I'm reserving my seat here for next year . How are all you guys keeping down here in this neck of the woods ?

Division 4 next year will be Sligo, Wexford, Laois , Leitrim , Waterford, Wicklow , Carlow , London . That's a very very poor group of teams to be down with and we deserve to be there too.
You'd think when we got relegated to division 4 back 4 or 5 years ago that it would of been a serious wake up call to the county to get ourselves in order but obviously not and now we have made the same mistakes and gone and done it again . Will we learn from our mistakes and get our house in order this time ? No of course we won't . Even if we come up from division 4 we will be found out in division 3 and go straight back down again .
If we don't sort ourselves out this cycle will continue. There is not near enough being done in this county at club or underage level to prepare our players for the demands of senior inter county football and the same problems are showing up over and over again year in year out .
The county board needs a COMPLETE overhaul , the structures in Laois football need a COMPLETE overhaul from top to bottom starting at underage club level all the way up to senior inter county level . It actually BAFFLES me that players are brought into underage development squads in Laois at a young age and by the time they get to senior they are still no closer to being physically, athletically, tactically  or technically ready for senior inter county football than when they first came through the door at the centre of excellence as 14 or 15 year olds with raw potential.
You yield what you sow and there is not near enough being done at a developmental level in Laois to bridge the gap . The results of our failure to address these issues are blueprinted all over our Laois senior football team since 2003 and the more the game has moved towards professionalism in Ireland the further down the pecking order Laois have become.
Something serious needs to happen soon and I would start with replacing that out of date county board of dinosaurs and replace them with people who are proactive and are willing to do whatever it takes to put Laois football back on the map and give young aspiring Laois footballers the platform to become the best version of themselves

Neither is ignoring it and thinking it's no big deal

It's a very big deal to Kilcavan and they should be commended for it
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I agree that Kilcavan should be commended. The likes of Ballyroan Abbey , Timahoe , Spink , The Heath , Park Ratheniska, Barrowhouse , Crettyard , Arles Killeen , Mountmellick , The Rock , ODempseys , Rosenallis, Clonaslee, Ballyfin have no players on the panel . Kilcavan have more representation than all them clubs put together.

It's the optimism that kills, sort out our underage and our Seniors will in time be decent.  Our minors Kilcavan have has many as Portlaoise.  Nice for Kilcavan but there is something seriously wrong when your major population base is not your main source of players .

In fact Kilcavan have 4 on the panel while Portlaoise have just 3 . I agree that Portlaoise needs be bringing through more quality players at underage if Laois as a county are to progress . The only 2 Portlaoise players on the Laois senior panel are the ageing Lillis and Dillon which is not enough representation for a town of that size . It's a sign of the times . Back in 2003 Aidan Fennelly , Colm Byrne , Kevin Fitzpatrick, Ian Fitzgerald and Colm Parkinson of Portlaoise were all key starters for Laois .