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Messages - SpeculativeEffort

#1
Laois / Re: 2024 Allianz Hurling League
March 14, 2024, 08:25:14 AM
OK so semi final is a straight promotion game and final is a decoration...
#2
Laois / Re: 2024 Allianz Hurling League
March 13, 2024, 07:39:20 PM
Are first and 2nd promoted? Or are finalists promoted? If its 1st and 2nd what's the point of the rest of the league?
#3
Laois / Re: Laois Senior Hurlers 2024
January 14, 2024, 07:59:00 PM
We actually played lots of good hurling  and there were plenty of positives.

I suppose the major thing would be to plug the gaps and stop conceding goals. The Galway FF line looked like creating goal opportunities every time they got the ball. LOC did plenty of good things at FB but was vulnerable if turned at all. Lee Cleere was similar unfortunately. Both are excellent hurlers but maybe better suited elsewhere. Hartnett is due to come back but we need a 3. Would Podge Del or Mullaney be suited. Also wonder if Fiachra C Fennell might be best suited to 2 or 4.

Outside of that Aaron Dunphy was good, D Dooley set up the goal brilliantly and did well overall. Quinlan also looked really dangerous in possession.

It might not have been Galways strongest team but their pool of hurling talent is much much deeper than ours. They have 40-60 Fitzgibbon cup hurlers every year. I think we are in the 10-15 category for past 10 years.
#4
Laois / Laois Pride and Unity
December 23, 2023, 09:22:16 PM
Recently I met a lifelong Laois supporter (now in his 80's) who asked me how we can help Laois GAA to rise again. We both agreed on investment in youth, better quality club teams amongst other things.

Then he turned to me and sadly said
'What is it with Laois? We seem to have no pride. No unity. Why is that?'

It got me thinking and overall I'd agree with him. Only for short bouts of time have I ever felt that the county felt proud. During Micko's reign and Eddie Brennans were two. Minor success 96 to 98 was another time.

Our pride feels like it is at an all time low right now.

Do you agree?

How do we change that?

Are we too club focused?

Can we turn it around?
#5
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 29, 2023, 07:29:57 PM
I thought sense would prevail but no silly season is in full flow.

Clubs have decided to change the format at the top of the hurling tree before even considering how this will effect clubs lower down.

We now will be less competitive in Leinster and almost guarantees that no Laois team will gain experience at Leinster or All Ireland level at intermediate or junior level.

'Shur they don't matter'

We had a fair system. I shudder to think what patch up solution they will conjure up in January.

Clubs feathering their own nest.

Idiots.
#6
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 19, 2023, 08:10:23 PM
Quote from: Spiritof1915 on November 18, 2023, 11:00:11 AMA strong proposal was put to the county board on the night for a slight tweak to the 8 team championship.
Top team in each group straight thru to semi
2nd teams straight thru to Qf
3rd and 4th teams play each other in a preliminary Qf with winners obviously thru to Qf against 2nd placed teams.
Losers playing off in relegation final.
I think it's the best proposal. Teams will have 2 chances to avoid relegation if that's not enough the relevant teams deserves to go down.
Hope the county board considers it seriously.

Does this not virtually make the groups pointless as nobody is knocked out. Lose all 3 games and you still in it? Is a semi final (more than likely 6 weeks away) a good reward for topping group? You could be playing a team with 2 extra knock matches under their belt.
#7
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 18, 2023, 08:42:37 AM
Quote from: Laois man on November 17, 2023, 11:26:43 PMBut lads we have 16 senior football team and county board feels that's OK 6 of them won't win the intermediate Cship but10 teams in the hurling is too many.

Just because we have one of the weakest, piss poor football championships, it doesn't mean we need to mess up the hurling.
8 is the right number at the moment.
Changing it now would be an embarrassment for BK.

Earn your stripes.
#8
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 17, 2023, 09:27:23 PM
Presumably Portlaoise as PIHC champions and Ballyfin as finalists while BK would not be relegated.
#9
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 17, 2023, 06:21:57 AM
Quote from: Verbal on November 16, 2023, 09:08:08 PMI think they are proposing 12 because it's safe to assume that will fail.
10 was too risky- it might have passed.

I think 6 would be a poor move.
The only benefit being that we'd be strong in Leinster Intermediate. Hardly the be all & end all.

We have 8 teams. It works as a number.
No need to change that.
But I do think the CB have strongly influenced the proposal of 12 being on the table- Safe in the knowledge that it would be a lot more likely to fail than 10!

With both proposals significantly inferior to what we have already, I've no issue with that. All Championships have peaks on troughs. I think we are just out of a trough and the next few years will be better fare.
#10
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 16, 2023, 03:41:11 PM
Quote from: Laois Rising on November 16, 2023, 02:43:55 PMWe have a bloated football championship that doesn't work and now we want to bloat our hurling championship. I would rather a 6 team championship played as a round robin with top team straight to the final and second v third through to a semi-final. Every club is guaranteed five competitive matches and with the progress Abbleyleix, Castletown and The Harps are making we could realistically expect six competitive teams to make up the group. We then would be sending our seventh ranked club into the Leinster intermediate who should be competitive at the standard.

For the development of the game the more championship games the top teams are playing against one another where there is something on the line the better. Ballyfin are the tenth ranked team presently in Laois and they are a long way off the standard required to compete at senior. What is the point of having them play at that level to be comprehensively beaten and weaken the senior and intermediate championship. 

 

I think the 6 team cship would have merit over last 3 years but I do think with Camross, CB, RE, Abbeyleix strong and Harps
 castletown making progress and a possible return of BK then 8 teams is quite competitive. Its also a good number to allow some variety of structure.

Eg 2 x 4s groups
Open draw with qualifiers as previously
Or
Even 1 group of 8 with top 4 in semis and bottom 4 in relegation.
#11
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
November 16, 2023, 11:24:38 AM
I cannot understand the clamour for major structural change to hurling championship.

Proposals

2 12's Senior and Intermediate

Positives

+more games (of disputable quality/competitiveness

Negatives
-dilutes the quality of both championships

-gets rid of a championship which takes the fill-up of success and the motivation for success away from more teams. Team 8-12 know they have no chance of winning either championship. Preparation will suffer. Standards will drop.

-Leinster: currently our 9th best is competitive in province but our 13th certainly will not be. 2024 could see BK bounce back with a Leinster Intermediate title. Wouldn't they come to senior in 2025 well prepared?

-teams lower down will suffer as senior teams can hold back players if playing lower seeded teams first.

10 team Proposal
Positives
+more games (of disputable quality)
+safety blanket for lower down senior teams

Negatives
- Bye weeks will leave an unfair advantage to senior clubs who could stack a second team if their seniors have a first round Bye. It distorts the other championships.

- teams 9 and 10 will be out of their depth (eg Ballyfin)

-again it negatively affects our clubs chances in Leinster

-why was their no clamour for change when Abbeyleix, Ballinakill etc were relegated.

Overall to be fair to all clubs the championships should be left at 8 teams.

Abbeyleix showed how going down Intermediate isn't a terminal blow and can be used to gain momentum.





#12
Laois / Re: Laois SHC 2023
September 25, 2023, 03:33:05 PM
Definitely some reason for optimism after those two cracking semi finals.

Brilliant to see new teams coming to the table with Abbeyleix, Castletown and The Harps showing green shoots this year. Its a real pity that BK have gone off the boil. If we had C/B,R/E, Abbeyleix, Camross, Castletown, The Harps, Borris Kilcotton, Rosenallis and maybe even Portlaoise all contending surely it would only be good for hurling within the county.

Hard luck to C/B. Super club, great champions but all things come to an end eventually.
#13
Laois / Re: The Future for Laois Football
August 07, 2023, 02:05:35 PM
There was man on radio last week who was addicted to gambling. He said he got a bigger thrill out of the losses as they produced a greater emotional response than winning. He was addicted to misery.

It rings through on this forum. Its never as busy on here as when Laois are after having an embarrassing loss or a thumping.

We are in the cycle of being addicted to misery as a county.
#14
Laois / Re: The Future for Laois Football
August 05, 2023, 03:36:34 PM
Quote from: Laoiseabu on August 04, 2023, 07:44:52 PM
Quote from: bluespower on August 03, 2023, 09:49:42 PM
Donald Trump is the man that would make Laois great again.  ;D


Judging by the standard of the senior championship matches last weekend not even God almighty can save us let alone Trump , Mary , Joseph , Jesus , Kinsella , Martin Murphy and whoever else's name gets linked to the managerial vacancy

This kind of negative, hopeless commentary must stop. With a good set up and the best 30/40 players fully committed to Laois football then we could progress to div 3 or maybe 2. People making doomsday statements only serves to make our county football team less attractive to management and players.

We know where we are. It's not good but it's definitely salvageable.
#15
Laois / Re: The future of laois hurling
July 27, 2023, 11:45:19 PM
Without meaning it to be insulting but everytime @Hurling123 adds something I get even more confused 😕