Laois Senior Hurling Championship 2016

[Don Draper]

Any incident involving a Garda and misconduct will be brought to the attention of the Garda Ombudsman, it may even be the responsibility of the Garda himself to do so. The Express are only doing their job, researching and reporting the news.

[finbar o tool]

Jesus I don't know Keyser. Surely we as a society must expect some base level of conduct from our Gardaí? If it had been a primary school teacher, would a parent have a valid concern?

It's a debate much bigger than this one incident but I think we have moved away from this notion that 'what happens on the field, stays on the field.' All players must be responsible for their actions; no one more so than a Guard.

Slieve Bloom are in an interesting position now. They must surely be considering whether they need this added distraction for what will already be a charged and potentially volatile occasion? If it was me, I'd be inclined to ask him to stay away.

On the senior games; I'm again (reluctantly) siding with Borris/Kilcotton to edge Ballinakill Gaels. They still have the better hurlers and sooner or later that has to count....I think...
I'll also plump for Rathdowney/Errill in the second semi-final. It's for much the same reasons to be honest; I think if they bring their A-game then Camross could find their firing power a little too much.

Finally, I'm going to go with the underdog in the Senior B. Ive a sneaky suspicion Ballyfin Gaels could edge Castletown.

+1

[oneflewoverthecuckoonest]

the two semi final replays are difficult to call. after the last day, the omens are that camross have their name on the trophy, so I will nominate camross and just about borris/kilcotton.

I am shocked after his performance in the camross/rathdowney-errill game that john lalor has been rostered to ref another semi final...a right slap in the face to all the other refs out there.

on the issue of the noteworthy junior semi final on Saturday, outside of the senior games, this is the one hurling game in the county that has been waited with in some anticipation for some time, and as others say events of late adding extra fuel. given that this tie is likely to draw a crowd that would match a senior semi final, why has the fixtures committee decided to place it in mountrath. surely a smarter call would have been to place it in o moore park, where the county board themselves could police the game. the two intermediate semi finals on Saturday are going to attract a smaller attendance than the junior game, and it might have been wiser to put the junior game on before them at o moore park and make it a treble header.

ps I hear cheddar is remaining at the helm for the senior team, no other candidates were sounded out, par for the course with the current executive. 

[Tobias]

Cheddar will have to shake it up a good bit next year. Davy Fitz or Donal og could be asked to join the team.

[finbar o tool]

i dont think there will be any incidents at the junior game, players will want to get on with the job and try get to a county final, and if James Young has a brain cell in his head he'll keep himself out of trouble. IF.

ps I hear cheddar is remaining at the helm for the senior team, no other candidates were sounded out, par for the course with the current executive. 

super 
its not about results or progression with our county board. like i said before, they're happy now they dont have to do anything and Cheddar will spend his own money too which is great for the county board.
the whole coaching system from U14 to Senior needs an overhaul in this county. but they dont give a shit.

[LOVEGAA]

super 
its not about results or progression with our county board. like i said before, they're happy now they dont have to do anything and Cheddar will spend his own money too which is great for the county board.
the whole coaching system from U14 to Senior needs an overhaul in this county. but they dont give a shit.
[/quote]



What is it with the County Board?
Do they not care?   Is it the money Cheddar pumps into the team?

Cheddar has done his best for Laois hurling but in fairness if the County Board are not going to do something about level of coaching going on from U14 upwards the man is wasting his time and money IMO.
They let anyone who shows any sort of interest in taking over a team work away and much as you have to admire them for giving up their time what background in coaching have they got.

I do think this years minor team is a typical example of this and if the County Board dont do something soon hurling in Laois
is only going to get worse and we have no hope of lads giving up their time if some effort is not made to get decent coaches in

[theskull1]

Are the right numbers of decent coaches (and finances) there in Laois at the minute to allow decent club coaches to head off to take well supported development squads? Similar issue in regard to low levels coaching numbers in Antrim. I don't think the county board can take the blame for too few people deciding to commit to coaching teams at the right level. Any suggestions on how you could rectify a shortfall in decent men looking to get involved?

[LOVEGAA]

In fairness if Cheddar is using his money as has been suggested surely the County Board could fund some coaching .
Yes we do have a shortage of coaches both club and county but maybe if more of an effort was put in more might get involved.
At the moment at underage its usually the fathers who get involved (and fair play to them) at club level, usually with no proper training themselves
We always seem to have excuses in Laois,  no money, no coaches,no hurlers committing, .
A clear out of the outdated County Board Committee is badly needed IMO

[oneflewoverthecuckoonest]

look the top 5 positions on the county executive are filled by football minded individuals. it may be a case that nobody from the hurling area has any interest in getting involved or perhaps from a numbers(in voting aspect), it may be now impossible to beat the football voting block and unseat them.

as mentioned, cheddar doing all the work suits the executive down to the ground and this dependency is not good.
I fear after about 5 years of competitiveness at minor level, the next five may see you dip to "b" standard again.

we can all share the blame for lack of effort in coaching, however, if the leadership at the top of the pyramid is non existent, those further down the chain are entitled to step aside and not get involved.


it may look great to outsiders that the county now has a training centre, if the talent on the playing side is being wasted, then the fixed assets are of little benefit.

[Thewildcat]

The man assulted someone repeatedly with a hurl it wasnt too just a malee he attacked someone with intent to seriously hurt them, not for the first time.
The reason i bring up the county board is that he shouldnt be allowed to be there saturday, its like putting a red rag to a bull, although in fairness i do agree with you that people are responsible for their own actions,in this case though the punishment was far too lenient

its funny with all his years hurling senior with laois i dont think he had a record of been a dirty player or a hard man , i suppose hurling the likes of the wexford and offaly plus kilkenny teams of the 90s if he pulled a dirty stroke he would be picking his teeth out of his s.it monday morning.

[burdizzo]

He was put off a few times, all the same.

[finbar o tool]

look the top 5 positions on the county executive are filled by football minded individuals. it may be a case that nobody from the hurling area has any interest in getting involved or perhaps from a numbers(in voting aspect), it may be now impossible to beat the football voting block and unseat them.

Id put someone like cheddar as the top man in the county board, then have 2 sub committees, 1 for hurling and 1 for football. Absolutely hound and humiliate croke park for more funding. Whatever it took. Whatever money we get is split evenly between hurling and football. And the camogie and ladies football deserve theirs too. I heard recently that the ladies footballers have to go out and get their own individual sponsors, €250, for their training gear! Unfuckingreal! The lads wouldnt be asked to do that!
Theres loads of things the CB could do to promote and attract new coaches and they could get up off their holes and look at how other progressive and successful counties are approaching their coaching set up from juvenile up. They could be more transparent about what their doing and have a good informative and interactive website for all too! At the moment they seem to be doing nothing!!

[Keyser Söze]

I think everyone agrees that more needs to be done. Most people seem to be content to leave it at vague statements like that rather than doing something about it.

Some of those most critical (of Cheddar for example) seem to have little to offer in the way of practical ideas on how to improve.

Begging Croke Park for money is stupid talk. These are hardened business men,you can beg them all you like- you'll get no more than you were going to get. Splitting this imaginary funding in half won't go very far. What's half of f**k all again?
The Camogie and LGFA (while deserving of support) have remained outside of the GAA umbrella by their own choice and their own choice alone. Whilst you can respect that decision, you can't expect the GAA to fund them then.

I wasn't condoning Young's actions, and I wasn't looking for a return to the days of "what happens on the field stays on the field", but I just think someone's career is a sacred thing.
Also some of the  posters building up Castletown & Slieve Bloom- they met last year in the championship also!

[Don Draper]

Id put someone like cheddar as the top man in the county board, then have 2 sub committees, 1 for hurling and 1 for football. Absolutely hound and humiliate croke park for more funding. Whatever it took.

Cheddar has done this. More than once over the past 10 years. The last time was shortly after the two narrow defeats to Galway. He and Zoom went cap in hand, with a plan, to drive hurling on again in the county. They prostrated themselves at Croke Park. The plan was taken from them, they were told thanks very much. And that was that.

Its plain to see, Croke Park don't want to help us. There's c***ts up there that would laugh at us, and I'm thinking of one particular ****. Either we drag ourselves up, or we stay where we are, where we've been for the vast majority of the existence of the GAA.

Its as simple as that.

What I find more incredible is, that after that rejection, Cheddar is still there. Zoom is still there. To their own cost. Its not critiquing them we should be doing, its rowing in behind them. These men listen, if you have something to say, go say it. They want you to help them. They'll inspire you. Do it now.

[LOVEGAA]

To be honest I dont think anyone can say anything about Cheddars committment to Laois hurling .

We can talk about Croke Park all day but where's are the County Board in all this.