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Heard a rumour not sure how true it is that the Laois U20 hurling management have gone against a recommendation by a CB sub committee to have regional trials for this year's squad. Instead favouring a hand picked group of 25 - 30 players starting next Friday. If true I seriously fear for Laois hurling. Have they not learnt anything especially from diastraous minor set ups of the last 2 years in particular. Even colm bonnar in a stronghold like Tipp sees the wisdom of a complete trawl of the county.

Its my understanding that 12 to 15 of this years u15s are being brought into the minor squad for next year.

Its far from ideal.

but an improvement on the minor squad of 2/3 years ago which held u15 trials and then was a closed shop to all after that.

Both games yesterday were good for different reasons, Ballygunner were on a mission, their intensity was the very evident in everything they did, relentless pressure from the first whistle, never settled on frees or sidelines, all taken quickly, they looked impressive.

The Tipp final was as I expected, a toss of the coin between them. Thurles looked really good early doors and raced to a good lead, before shipping 1-3 without reply! nip and tuck the rest of the game, they will be busted, hopefully the Munster board will look at their fixtures in hurling and football and allow them time to prepare as a club

No space in the schedule not that it will bother Loughmore

definitely out the next 2 weeks and if they beat Eire Og next weekend,it will be 3 weekends in a row plus Noel McGraths Wedding somewhere in the middle.

less than 1,000 people in the parish,put out 3 adult hurling teams and 2 adult football teams,their 3 adult hurling team won a divisional junior C and had 35 on the panel

Aw diddums did I upset poor hurleyman?
We're not as big a joke as Laois where they haven't yet discovered that it's the ball you have to hit!

All our clubs play within the county boundary which is more than could be said for your lot

Don't know what the GAA bother with filling up the TO with playing rules for hurling 
As for having Refs.... they are just timekeepers/scorekeepers.

We get it

You hate hurling

Imagine if all the hurling  counties concentrated on football

Roscommon would be an even greater joke than it already is

Jays some dung here about the future of Laois football

I'm we would all love to hear your thoughts as to how things can be improved

U15 last night

Laois A beat Wexford by 2 points

Laois B took a bit of trimming from the other Wexford team.

U14

Both laois teams took a hiding from the 2 kilkenny teams in Dunmore on Saturday last while we had another 2 Laois teams playing 2 Wicklow teams at the same time in the Centre of Excellence

Sounds like we have great numbers at that age group. Have we ever had 4 teams at one year before?

its the 4 divisional teams that are being put out and getting game time

at U15 both laois teams took a heavy beating from the 2 Wexford teams in the return games last Saturday

How are the regions picked? Is it geographical or are the players just split into four equal groups.

Scroll back a few pages to where I posted up a breakdown by club of the divisional teams

U15 last night

Laois A beat Wexford by 2 points

Laois B took a bit of trimming from the other Wexford team.

U14

Both laois teams took a hiding from the 2 kilkenny teams in Dunmore on Saturday last while we had another 2 Laois teams playing 2 Wicklow teams at the same time in the Centre of Excellence

Sounds like we have great numbers at that age group. Have we ever had 4 teams at one year before?

its the 4 divisional teams that are being put out and getting game time

at U15 both laois teams took a heavy beating from the 2 Wexford teams in the return games last Saturday

Another great win for Park yesterday against a Carlow side, it's been some year for them altogether. Don't see why some people reckon they'll struggle with Senior football, they have plenty of youth and athleticism with the likes of Podge Dunne and Fingleton in the middle a very mobile duo. I wouldn't be surprised to see them reach a Leinster final with the form they're in.

Yesterday they were sloppier than they were in Laois championship, but a win all the same.  The opposition were woeful though. Will do them good though and focus the mind. I do agree they won't be far off it if they play like they did earlier in championship. Another challenge in 2 weeks vs Wexford champions at home venue.

Missing one if not 2 lads with covid as well?

Good to see both Laois clubs progressing yesterday

Would parish rule solve a lot of this joining up shit.? Also underage some clubs do very little work so how are you going to have numbers at minor if there don't come through U11/13 and 15.

Parish Rule would clean it up considerably

It might also force the clubs who couldnt be arsed developing juveniles to get their act together knowing they cant bed hop any more

Nearly all of the best footballers in south Laois end up going to Knockbeg, sprinkled in with some of the best young GAA players from clubs in Carlow, Wicklow, parts of Kildare and Kilkenny, Knockbeg will always field competitive teams, especially in football.

The problem for Portlaoise CBS is that a large cohort of male pupils joining the school do not play or have played little or no GAA. How can they field competitive teams if the pool of potential players is dwindling year on year? Killian FitzPatrick is considered one of the top GAA coaches/managers in the county and is working in the CBS. If the players were there, Portlaoise CBS have the facilities and staff to compete at the top table.

Killian Fitzpatrick is taking every football team in the CBS and seems to be a one man band as regards the coaching of football in the Cbs

Compare and contrast that with the number of mentors and the ethos in Knockbeg as regards football

Strip out the lads going to the CBS who don't play GAA and I'll guarantee you the CBS has  greater numbers still than Knockbeg

You have about 7/8 clubs represented in there as well

Also why then is the girls school doing better next door at nearly every sporting discipline ?

I guess it might be something to do with ethos,tradition,teachers involved and the fact they seem to be training the whole time even during the summer holidays

A school's team is only as good as the players that are filtering in from the clubs. You cannot blame Portlaoise CBS- the blame lies squarely with how football is promoted and developed by Portlaoise GAA and Laois GAA. Both the club and county board have failed abysmally to put any structures/long term planning in place over last two decades and now they are reaping what they sowed.

In that case Knockbeg must be down in E or F football and no hurling given they probably have half the playing population of the CBS available to them at most and drawing from Laois clubs as well

Except they ain't

Another problem then is players from the small clubs are discriminated against in that they are denied the opportunity to play a high grade football during their development years due to the small numbers available in their club. That then translates to county teams when they hope to transition from 9 a side games at a low level to full games at a higher standard. Having said that there is definitely a strong case for a single club competition as suggested to run alongside what's already in place

The way around the small clubs playing at 9 a side is to get them into the development squad system at u14 and it's run properly

Loughmore Casteleiny play most if not of their juvenile in Tipp at C and even D at times due to their numbers

It's hasn't done them any harm in either grade

What goes on in laois goes on in no other county and wouldn't be tolerated by any other county board either

Enforce the actual rules in relation to the bas of the Hurley

Which should be a maximum of 13cm at it widest

Trumera were supposed to be in bed with Ballacolla in the u20 A hurling but at the last minute took a shine to the Parish Gaels and are now in the B with us and we we should be by rights hurling in the A


We meet Park on Saturday on the u20 and it appears that Ballinakill are in the process of striking a deal for their St.Joseph's hurlers and bringing them to ballinakill along with the crettyard and spink dual players

All this leaves 10/12 lads from mountrath with no u20 as they were to go in with Ballacolla,only for Trumera who got there before them and then left

So they are high and dry

And the county board facilitates all this !!!!!

Surely all that stuff has to be done at the start of the year, not a week or two before the games?
I know that in the football a lad from Castletown wanted to play with a team in the under 20 A football as an isolated player and he and they were told that it was too late.

In relation to the u20 hurling and football,you can bed hop before it starts as a club

An isolated player would have to have his application to play as an isolated player with a specific club in before 30th of January to the county board even for an u20 competition starting in November of that year

What Castletown could have done was amalgamate with that club at u20 A football for 2021 to accommodate that player and he could have played

Should be a rule that you can't enter into a B competition unless your a stand alone team. Why not run a 11 or 13 aside B competition for clubs with low numbers. Mrath had no U20 team this year and there players got no hurling and 3 years ago they won a minor  A with Cbolla not much Development there for those lads.

I'm blue in the face from saying it

Run juvenile and u20 Competition grades based on numbers

No amalgamations

So you have 15/13/11 even 9 a side competitions

And you don't call it ABCD in case some clubs are worried about the stigma of playing in D

Call each grade after a former great

And the bigger clubs put in second or third or even fourth teams

A club has 30 u15's

15 plus 3 subs go to the A competition

Second team goes to the D

Which is 9 a side plus 3 subs

Everyone is getting game time

Wearing the club jersey

Getting trained by club men in the club grounds

And there's no more bed hopping