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Clonadmad... first of all iv never even been to a rugby game so stick to not making judgement son.. my background is in soccer, cycling, triathlon and gaa in that order. Working with underage development squads in Ireland,  Belgium, Australia along with working with senior intercounty hurling teams including Kilkenny, waterford, Dublin and Offaly and the last cyclist I worked with won the An-Post RAS while I was his acting physiologist.. so I'm glad I don't have a "modicum of cop on" perhaps I should stand on a side line and shout things like "run faster" "hit him for f sake" or my favourite "of course we should start him, his father was a great footballer and I'm sure it's in him too".
@HELIX if we get bet by 15-20 points? I don't know but can't be worse than going out to a bad tipperary team, clare,  Longford,  Antrim? Seems like changing nothing has worked for us so far doesn't it? It's childish thinking the sport is still amateur having worked with KK almost a decade ago they are already doing more then what I mentioned below. I got the chance to see Dublin u14 data while they were playing our lads a couple years ago and they are 10 years of what I'm talking about. Laois during the "golden era" had the best conveyor of natural talent in ireland and only 1 leinster to show? That my friend is bollox!!

Strength and conditioning'aphobes are quick to blaspheme when they know little about it. I didn't know it had started already at u13 and I'm glad they have implemented it. Lads have to stop thinking od s&c as making kids big. Anyone with a "modicum" of knowledge knows that correct programming is put is place to teach kids how to lift weights when they get to u20. It's flexibility, technique, quickness and most MOST importantly the training of propioceptive neuromuscular pathways (nervous system) and getting all systems to work together. On the O byrne thread lads our giving out that the new players are to light! Those lads will now be thrown into a S&C program to bulk up. It's like putting a turbo into a 1998 fiat chichento and expecting it to do 100mph every day until September. Something will give!! Imagine wiring your house with the cables for a car headlights! Sure electricity will run down it but it won't power your kettle for long. Correct S&C training with "the youngest squads" will increase ligament and tendon strength  (less injuries), increase bone density (less breaks, osteoporosis, stronger anchor points for muscles), increase neural pathways (quicker, faster and greater foundation for strength), metabolic efficiency (heart ,lungs, skin, lymph, endocrine, muscular, calcium-ptassium shuttle system, lactate system and Krebs cycle) all working in perfect harmony together.

I'm not talking about making robots. I'm saying we should get the most talented kids we have in the county and give them the best information possible including, health, flexibility and tactical awareNess to better prepare them and to be in a position of readiness for when they get called up to the senior intercounty teams.
To put it into perspective around 90% of all international soccer players are brought to an academy between 9-14 and trained in this manner. Would we call them unskillful? Ronaldo is 6'2 and around 13 stone which is the average gaa midfielder. He is built like a tank and the most skillful player in the world.

Finally Don Draper. I actually have no idea where one would start with an app like that but I can't imagine it would be to hard. The underarmour one is free and does most of what I said. My fitness pal is also a group of apps that cover most of what I said. Can't imagine it would be to hard.

With the strategic review coming out tomorrow I'd like to know what changes people hope will be in it.
I myself would like to see a move towards a long term professional set up that incorporates all players from the u13/14 up. My reasoning behind this would be that once a child is brought into the county set up there should be a clear line of progression, including expectations,  attitudes and outcomes with the senior teams being "professionals role models" in the same way of the first team premiership club.
To start with I'd invest heavily with a "laois player" app. This would be download able under licence by all players with coaded usernames for better personal protection.  Along with this each player would receive a performance tracker vest top "sports bra." With all players having to wear it to track activity for county, club, school etc and aduring all sport activities afterwards it bluetooth syncs to the players phone and app. if they play rugby/soccer etc with the consent of that coach. This is overall just to protect against over training etc. 
The app itself would allow for a better understanding of what your players and doing and how they are reacting to training. It will also allow coaches to send training material directly to their teams rather than waste training time on tactical talks the players can arrive to training with the training session tactics already known.
Along with the app I'd hire a full time nutritionist, exercise physiologist, S&C coach and video alalyst.  These people would be available to all Laois teams. Prior to training individuals would open their app see their coachs input and highlights from the previous games ex: possession turnover short 3min video on the turnovers etc followed by 2 min of coach instructions on how the session is going to be run etc. Players turn up switched on. Along with this the coach can give individuals highlights to them directly and what they are to work on themselves.
The APP+tracker would also allow for direct following of the S&C program and how they are responding to it. As for the s&c it should be conducted along the lines russian liner periodisation along the lines of Zerhoshansky, Zatziorsky, Siff and Simmons. This will instill a constant winning/achieving attitude from an early age on. Weight training should begin with the youngest teams and be a constant progression.
Going back to the club's I'd like to see how the underage structures are within each club. Again clubs could be given acess to the app with training games, structures training etc all there for them. I personally would like to see training sessions from u8 up be run with lots of 1v1, 2v2 skills based training games I think for skills development and overall talent.

Can't see how people are being held up 15-20h per week with paperwork unless it's from the CB. I worked as an RDO with the FAI and spent some time training for role in Belgium and Denmark and never had much more than 2-3h a week to do in office. Only time we got issues was when teams or venues  changed suddenly. We had a good bit of paper work at the start of the season yeah with kids forms containin personalinfo needing to be logged, garda vetting, consent forms etc but that all had to be done before the first session for us. The schools do present an issue with some teachers not wanting kids out at various time with the most anyone will do is 3 primary school sessions in a day (9-30-10-30, 11-12 12-1) after lunch primary schools were reluctant to let you in.  Then we would go home and generally take 2-3 club sessions per night in one club with differnt age groups. Training in schools can be disasterours especially small schools where you might have to take one class room that has from u from ages 7-11  it's pointless. Saturday was designated to training and upsklling club coachs and volunteers in the mornings and high potential sessions in the evening. I don't know what the gaa is at holding coach's up with paperwork.

Yeah it's a bit of situation alright but it works in other counties and could possibly be integrated here. I truly believe the old buzz words of passion and competitiveness have long been missing from senior football. And wanted to fit in the prospect of all players having the chance to experience senior football while making all c/ships more competitive. Football is currently mundane and that has to change somehow.

No not a tall, I played junior for a country team most of my adult life and trying to assemble a team of lads in August between holidays and barley was next to impossible. you cant tell a farmer to stop cutting corn at 6 go home to eat dinner and be at training at half 7 with rain expected the following day. Or alternatively like what happened on more than one occasion you play your first match the second week of august and because of senior and inter being played your match get postponed for a month so you play a meangingless challenge match against a club somewhere and either win big, lose big or get inevitably your best player injured. There is nothing to stop the junior and inter league playing 4-5 games in march-april, and the rest in august on.
To stop bigger doing that is easy the top 19 lads that played the most amount c/ship the previous year are automatically your first panel, any player from that 19 can be regraded but cant go back up to senior the same year

I actually wasn't considering Donal Miller in that it im my view he is one of the post dedicated and passionate annaghnough men there is was the other teams and players like Barrowhouse for example, I only recently read about the Daly talk and if a little club like that can lose the 2 kingstons and Daly it shows how well they are set up. If im not mistaken with them if they had all players available their team would consist of 2 kingstons, daly,  malone, (dont know first name) brennan, joe murphy and the twin chaps who would of all played minor or u21 and senoir for laois and i think the oldest being 28ish? I know you can still argue that only 3 of the 9 would of left but altogether that would be the bones of some outfit. They also used to have dom whelans son who was a great  talant that never had a chance to play above junior. If im not mistaken however he was a stand out performer for one of the american club teams recently so is obviously over there.

regarding the division dont think as north/s/e/w. think NE/SE/SW/NW google maps laois draw a rough line straight through portlaoise from just to the right of MM to just right of ballinakill to divide east west. then from roughly from athy to the N77 to divide NE and SE and from portlaoise straight across between mountrath and ballyfin. That would leave the hurling parts quite large with lots to draw from and football side smaller with more traditional clubs. for instance NE would then consist of annanough, O'D's, the rock, courtwood and emo and whoever else, SE would be barrowhouse park, timmahoe, spink an SW then would be ballynakill, durrow, rathdowny, errill borris, castletown and mountrath and NW rosenallis, kilcavan and dont forget bout senior teams coming down.

Anyway what im saying is a club like that and other clubs around should have the ability to let there players play senior ball in a proper format. We need our best players playing competitive HARD football. Its the county board that are confusing things by once again being to afraid/old fashioned to make changes and causing club officials all kinds of headaches just to be either shot down or made fun of.

also agrees with the 7 matches being to much, just make it one game each in the group that leaves a min of 4 games.

Intermediate and junior should also be restructured to accomodate these changes to make their championship more competitive. Firstly to avoid players playing eeach weekend for divisional and junior/intermediate teams play off junior c/ship between mid may and finish in july again same format as above in groups all teams play the same weekend  sunny weather good football. Thats 10 weeks to play 6 games max. Players that are out then have all august to go on holidays/EP and relax and the div teams holding onto players from august to end of c/chip.
The problem i feel with splitting the senior into 2 is that you still have 4 teams to many calling themselves senior.

Hi surely there is a simple way to sort out all this gaels/transfer nonsense by introducing 4 divisional teams north, south, east and west made up of junior and intermediate players. Rule it now before the year kicks off properly that the bottom 4 teams + the winners of this years intermediate go into a 5 team group at the end of the season in which all teams play each other once with the winning team being promoted to senior and the rest to intermediate (should teams be level on points it goes to score difference, still level after tat teams get drawn from a hat and play off winner takes all) This serves 3 purposes 1: To reduce senior teams to 12, 2: the extra numbers in intermediate will increase the divisional team strength and 3: I creates a competitive atmosphere (which i think has been lost in Laois football for a long time).
Now 2018 would see the senior c/ship with 12 senior teams + 4 divisional, 4 groups of 4 with one divisional team in each group all teams playing  playing twice, top 2 teams go through to quarters etc, third place teams going into a shield semi final. This ensures all teams get a minimum of 7 games at senior for their players to be seen.
Relegation then divisional teams cant be relegated (this ensures all the counties top players are playing senior every year which is the why all the transfers/amalgamation are happening) and the lowest placed senior team plays off against intermediate winners.

The reason for all  the playoffs/senior relegation is to fuel competitiveness. There will then be only 12 "official" senior teams who have to battle every year to keep there name against a intermediate side thats chomping at the bit to move itself up a division. You have 4 large groups of individuals in the divisional that are out to prove why they deserve a chance to play senior football and a better prospect of playing county giving us a total of 240 of  our best players playing first team senior football. Senior teams will have to fight to keep their place and the intermediate championship will be properly competitive.
Thats just my take on it anyway, in my opinion it would create a more competitive platform, stop all this amalgamation/transfer crap and give all our best players a chance to prove themselves.