Championship Draw 2018

Started by Wherediditallgowrong, October 19, 2017, 11:21:54 PM

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Wherediditallgowrong

Hi all, want your opinions on championship draw? Is a Leinster semi final our aim for next year while bringing through a revamped squad with better level of fitness?

rrhf


Don Draper

A semi final against Kildare in Croke Park has to be the aim. Anything after that, is a bonus.

GAA-SMART

Absolutely, all of a sudden from the daldroms of last year a D4 win in Croke Park and a Leinster Semi Final would be extremely positive

redsetanta

Lets be honest lads unless there is a serious improvement on last year we would be hammered in Croke Park by Kildare. There is a massive gulf there in my opinion. We need a better conditioned team and new players and maybe we'd be in a position to compete somewhat. I don't think a hammering in Croke Park wiould be of any benefit to the team.

I would be more concerned about promotion from Div 4 maybe going up as champions which is a realistic target for year 1. Anything after that is a bonus.
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

Don Draper

Quote from: redsetanta on October 20, 2017, 04:01:17 PM
Lets be honest lads unless there is a serious improvement on last year we would be hammered in Croke Park by Kildare. There is a massive gulf there in my opinion. We need a better conditioned team and new players and maybe we'd be in a position to compete somewhat. I don't think a hammering in Croke Park wiould be of any benefit to the team.

I would be more concerned about promotion from Div 4 maybe going up as champions which is a realistic target for year 1. Anything after that is a bonus.
We're talking Championship here. No one said anything about beating Kildare, but getting to that stage should be the goal.

Get promotion, get on a winning run, get to the semi final. Where it goes from there, we'll see then. But its about getting fit, getting a system, getting back winning, regularly.

Throwing a game to avoid playing Kildare in a Leinster semi final is an out there suggestion though.

Junior Ex Laoistalk

Totally agree with Don on this, Div4 or not, if we can't beat Wexford and Westmeath at home we will have shown no improvement whatsoever which would be a major disappointment to me..
Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit!

Keyser Söze

Ideal draw for the players and management team. Sets the year up nicely, as others have said.

Division 4 win and get to a Leinster semi final v Kildare in Croke Park is a realistic and achievable aim. It would be a positive year after several that were static at best.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

BallyroanAbu

#8
What is an acceptable year getting out of Div 4 and being competitive against Div 2 & 3 teams in the championship?   I would take that, lets be honest Laois are not going to get anywhere near Kildare who next year are a Div 1 team.

Static you are kind Keyser

Keyser Söze

Quote from: BallyroanAbu on October 20, 2017, 06:45:37 PM
What is an acceptable year getting out of Div 4 and being competitive against Div 2 & 3 teams in the championship?   I would take that, lets be honest Laois are not going to get anywhere near Kildare who next year are a Div 1 team.

Static you are kind Keyser

A team going well can pull out big performances. At least for 45/50 mins. There is also the possibility of Kildare's year in Division 1 being a very tough one. These two factors could see Laois have a good rattle for 45/50 mins. I think anyways. No expectation and nothing to lose.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

oneflewoverthecuckoonest

#10
the football draw was as good as could be expected. If you cannot beat Wexford at home you are in deep trouble, as Wexford is another county like ourselves declining in the past 5 years or so. Westmeath were the weakest of the 4 seeded teams and again we have a realistic shot at downing them..however defeating Wexford or Westmeath would be contingent on the panel becoming much fitter....we don't want to see established lads with their hands on the hips panting for breath after 20 minutes(like this year in numerous games). If we happened to win the first 2 games, with confidence up we might rattle Kildare.

I was worried about the 2nd tier in hurling, looking again at the draw last night(or the fixtures in tier 1), it may turn out a blessing in disguise that Laois are in Tier 2...we can if primed beat all 5 others in Tier 2, and then we earn a crack at the 3rd placer in Leinster/Munster and are 70 minutes away from an All Ireland quarter final......a fine carrot to dangle............on the other hand look at poor Offaly.......I can only see 4 heavy demoralising defeats coming their way in Tier 1 and then relegation....that will be hard to stomach by their supporters and could end up causing them difficulties trying to get out of Tier 2 the following year.

Tony

Excellent draw for us.

I never got that thinking of "oh we're better off losing to Wexford so that we wont get beaten by Kildare." That's a terrible attitude to have in my opinion.

We'll try our best and see how far it will take us.

Promotion and leinster semi is somewhat realistic so we should aim for that. Fearing a beating to Kildare is weak. Let's focus on Wekford and the Qtr first, if we win those there's no reason why we cant be competitive VS Kildare if we have as good a setup as we think we might.


Don Draper

Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on October 20, 2017, 11:14:43 PM
the football draw was as good as could be expected. If you cannot beat Wexford at home you are in deep trouble, as Wexford is another county like ourselves declining in the past 5 years or so. Westmeath were the weakest of the 4 seeded teams and again we have a realistic shot at downing them..however defeating Wexford or Westmeath would be contingent on the panel becoming much fitter....we don't want to see established lads with their hands on the hips panting for breath after 20 minutes(like this year in numerous games). If we happened to win the first 2 games, with confidence up we might rattle Kildare.

I was worried about the 2nd tier in hurling, looking again at the draw last night(or the fixtures in tier 1), it may turn out a blessing in disguise that Laois are in Tier 2...we can if primed beat all 5 others in Tier 2, and then we earn a crack at the 3rd placer in Leinster/Munster and are 70 minutes away from an All Ireland quarter final......a fine carrot to dangle............on the other hand look at poor Offaly.......I can only see 4 heavy demoralising defeats coming their way in Tier 1 and then relegation....that will be hard to stomach by their supporters and could end up causing them difficulties trying to get out of Tier 2 the following year.
A very good assessment

BallyroanAbu

Quote from: Tony on October 21, 2017, 11:58:50 AM
Excellent draw for us.

I never got that thinking of "oh we're better off losing to Wexford so that we wont get beaten by Kildare." That's a terrible attitude to have in my opinion.

We'll try our best and see how far it will take us.

Promotion and leinster semi is somewhat realistic so we should aim for that. Fearing a beating to Kildare is weak. Let's focus on Wekford and the Qtr first, if we win those there's no reason why we cant be competitive VS Kildare if we have as good a setup as we think we might.

Fair enough Tony, but lets be realistic we are a Div 4 team it took 5 years to get to that point, it is as good a draw as we could have hoped for and hopefully it will be a year of rebuilding and green shoots.

Tony

Yeah I agree with you there Ballyroan. There are about 5 new players from this years county championship that i think can make a good difference to our squad. Let's hope the old reliables commit, too, especially tried and trusted backs like Cahir Healy. We could really do with everyone on board. Those lads around the age of Healy, Timmons, JOL, Begley etc still have another 3-4 good years in them in my opinion. John Surgue is universally liked, from what I hear. No excuse for lads saying "ah sure he's from Town X, he'll be biased" and no excuse for lads from portlaoise either. If you want to play, you want to play, and that's it. A players career is short enough. Why not challenge yourself at the top level while you're able to do it. Best of luck to all who commit to play for Laois in 2018, we as support will be with you all the way. If you give 100%, regardless of what happens, we'll be very satisfied. We're a proud GAA county and we can all do better than the last couple of years. Laois Abu