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The fact you are ranking the referee's meaning and inferring that you see those lower down on your list as inferior in standard to others is casting them in a negative light. The pool of referees is small in the county and anyone who does takes on this largely thankless role has my upmost respect.

This thread is dangerous if one or more posters decides to air their grievances with a referee's performance after a club championship game. 

Two big wins for Laois at the beginning of the league. Should have too much for Carlow, Waterford, Leitrim and London and with Tipperary in re-build mode I'd expect them to finish the campaign with seven wins and 14 points. The real test of this Laois side to see what kind of improvements have they made will be in the Tailteann Cup when they face some of the higher ranked sides. 

Welcome back Bruce.

Did you manage to get over to Durrow?

I heard it said by many that the demise in Laois hurling over the last couple of years can be attributed to Mossy Bruce disappearing off the scene. Now that you are back, I expect Laois' fortunes to take a turn again.

Good to have you back Bruce. Hopefully we will have some success to celebrate on the forum in 2024.

We have a good mix of talented young players joining the panel and chomping at the bit to make their mark combined with very realistic and tangible expectations of winning silverware this year to create a feel good, buzz to Laois hurling for 2024. A positive and winning environment will hopefully help bed in the young talent coming through. A year of Division 1 losses and bad beatings in a Leinster championship could have knocked the players development, interest and enthusiasm. Barely missing out last year when we were the strongest Joe McDonagh team by the end of the the group stages of the competition might prove a blessing in disguise for us. 2024 gives the management team to space and games to blood new players, create a winning mentality and hopefully have us in a stronger position in 2025 when we potentially return to division 1 hurling and the Leinster championship proper.

 

For novelty I'd love to see the following system in place (obviously I know it will never pass in reality as a proposal).

8 senior teams play off with a first round do or die game (open draw as to who faces who). 4 teams progress to the next round with an open draw again. The two winning teams from these encounters proceed to play one another with the winner progressing to the final. The two losing teams then play off in a quarter final with the winner of that game facing the losing team of the two winning teams encounter in the semi-final.

The losing 8 teams play off in a senior B style competition as currently in use in the football championship.

What I like about this proposal is that it takes away the safety nets and the dead rubbers that the group games are currently throwing up. It also brings back cut-throat first round encounters that should add intensity and excitement to the championship. 

We 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. 

 

Sobering set of results this weekend. With Ballyhale not in Leinster this year it really opens the door for the remaining club sides in Leinster. It's a pity Camross weren't able to get into the mix and go on a run similar to C-Balla few years back. Portlaoise will need to find an extra level if they want to properly compete at senior level in Laois next year.   

Kerry hurling county final played start of August. None of teams involved impacted by the Kerry senior footballers and the county hurlers did not make it out of their Joe McDonagh group. It suits Kerry to have it played early and quickly so that the football club and county championship can run smoothly without disruption.

Kilkenny county football final played off by end of May most years. The advantages of not having an intercounty team.   

I respect Billy's efforts as someone who has built up a good CV coaching teams. However, from what I know talking to people who were involved in Longford during his tenure I do not see the county board giving him the job. In fairness to the county board they gave those candidates who expressed an interest a chance to interview for the job. None of them were deemed suitable. As opposed to appoint the wrong man they are actively seeking someone who would be a right fit for the job. As we are all well aware it is not an enticing job in its current guise. Therefore, it's going to take time and plenty of persuasion. For an ambitious manager, the Laois job might appeal as they cannot go any lower. Even a small bit of progress e.g. promotion from division 4 and a proper crack at the Tailteann Cup would reflect well on this person and in a couple of years time could move to pastures new with their reputation embellished aka Eddie Brennan style with the Laois hurlers.

Being relegated to intermediate last year might have proved a blessing in disguise for Ballylinan. Real positivity around the club again after win at the weekend and a number of young players brought through as well. I hope they give Leinster a crack this year. Sometimes you need to take one step back to take two steps forward. 

You'd swear by this forum that the appointment of a county manager is an easy business. The county board could make a quick appointment as we know certain names who would be keen to take the job. However, are they of a calibre that will improve things at present. Their track records would suggest not.

Unfortunately, the Laois job is not overly enticing at this present time. Those working on selecting a manager I'm sure behind the scenes are liaising with potential candidates and trying to provide a package that will entice someone of calibre to give the job a crack. I would rather they take the time to find someone right than make a quick appointment simply to have it done.

I would also suggest that Mickey Harte making the surprise decision to step away from Louth may have inadvertently impacted on Laois' recruitment plan.       

Portarlington had a couple of poop performances last year as well and good fortune got them over the line on more than one occasion. This Portarlington team peaked two years ago and it was inevitable that they would be beaten sooner rather than later. Had Martin Murphy been there I'm not sure whether it would have made a huge difference. Joseph's have been building with Dempsey the last couple of years. They had a nice blend of youth and experience which every team needs.

The in house club manager versus the outside manager debate is an interesting one. One year my club selected one of our former players as manager for the year. One of the first training sessions outlined to the players where things had gone wrong the previous year. Couple of players took umbrage with what was said and a row broke out. The year was already over and a write off after that and it only January. Had an outside manager said the same things it might have been accepted more.

If you are going in house needs to be someone of very high stature within the club who is completely respected by the players.       

The partnership between Ballyroan and Abbeyleix over the last number of year has served both clubs well and starting to pay rich dividends at senior level. By having lads from Abbeyleix playing football with Ballyroan and lads from Ballyroan having the option of hurling with Abbeyleix its has resulted in clubs having big numbers and competitive teams coming up through the juvenile ranks, created bonds between players who have had a taste for success and now a desire to bring that to senior level.

Some of the lads coming through with Abbeyleix have been involved in excellent underage set ups for both football and hurling. I think this model also shows the benefits of having kids regularly in the field (be it football or hurling) creating strong bonds and forging friendships. These bonds will carry through to the senior team and you have no doubt that Abbeyleix players will give it their all for one another on the field of play. Lads like Ciaran Byrne, Lawson Obulor, Shaun Fitzpatrick and two or three others have won U20 titles together in both football and hurling. They may fall short against Camross but this does not feel like a flash in the pan for this Abbeyleix side. They are also a youthful side who can only improve over next couple of years.

Surely this model that Abbeyleix and Ballyroan could be replicated by other clubs. The benefits are there for all to see. I'm thinking a club like Ballinakill who do at times struggle numbers wise would benefit from forging a similar type partnership with a strong football only club and give it the time to develop. Both clubs would benefit from the influx of players. The players would benefit from having the higher numbers which would improve the standard of training. The extra coaching in both football and hurling would benefit the development of the children's skillsets etc.   I remember Ballinakill and Crettyard amalgamating at underage level once upon a time under some Gaels name and winning a few underage football titles before it fell apart. In hindsight they should have remained separate entities but worked in partnership over a number of years to introduce kids from Crettyard to playing hurling and playing with Ballinakill while the Ballinakill kids playing football with Crettyard. It would take a little hard work and organisation but it could have benefitted both clubs hugely. Imagine having Evan O'Carroll as a hurler and Ciaran Burke lining out for Ballinakill instead of The Harps.

   

Sbloom could struggle to stay intermediate next year.

I just put them in at the end out of devilment tbh. Also, there is no way clubs would support the reduction to 6 teams at senior or premier intermediate. The Kilkenny system has merits too. At present the current system is not working as well as it could and for that reason would like to see something new trialled. 

How about you go the other way and turn the Laois senior championship in a 6 team championship and the Intermediate into a 6 Team championship. If you want evenly matched and competitive games this might be the way forward. Play the 6 team championships using a league format with top team straight through to the final and 2nd v 3rd in a semi final. I would have the bottom 2 teams meet in a relegation decider. That way it would keep every game competitive. You would have a senior championship of Camross, Castletown, Abbeyleix, Clough-Ballacolla, Rathdowney-Errill, Rosenallis and an intermediate championship of The Harps, Borris-Kilcotton, Ballinakill, Ballyfin, Portlaoise and Slieve Bloom. I think both those championships should provide some evenly contested and competitive games. Upping the number of senior teams to just make intermediate championship more competitive makes little sense to me.