Messages

A Leinster League used to operate (and perhaps still does?), but interest in it seemed to dwindle. Of course, not having county panellists involved takes away from it, as well.

Leinster league is a strange affair as teams tend to opt in and out and some counties didn't have their stronger clubs. Leagues are hard enough to get games played as they are and in reality, they are just leagues. Does anyone ever truly develop from playing league matches? Rathdowney Errill plodded through the league but were a different animal in the championship. All they realistically do is help you to get fit for the summer and improve touch.

If we want to improve club hurling in Laois I think the answer is in coaching and permanently combining clubs from weaker areas. Mainly though, it is in the coaching from U8-U14. If a lad is not flying at U-14, he is probably never going to be a good senior hurler. They don't get made later by coaching or exposing them to better hurlers. Can anyone think of exceptions? I bet they are few.

This sums up the attitude. Too much picking and choosing about which games are important. If 2 lads went out in the yard and competed for a ball for an hour every evening are you saying that they wouldnt improve? People need to develop an attitude of team and self improvement.

Dinny you've replied to my comments on why 17 year olds drop out of sport, by citing an article about an under-14 policy in a club falling down with players.

This is not the same thing.

There may be come correlation here, but unless Nemo are also keeping their stronger juvenile players on board as well, and playing junior football while their old teammates  "jump ahead" of them, then it's the same situation anyhow.

You were talking about teenagers when I quoted you not specifically 17 years old. I think your attitude is wrong and symptomatic of why clubs are struggling with numbers. Unless a kid is competitive at x, y, z age he won't play adult sport to me is simply mind boggling. Since when did playing sport solely become about winning? No wonder clubs are dying on their feet.

https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/sport/493869/open-letter-a-young-player-s-view.html

Very hard to keep 16/17 year olds involved if there isn't some sort of ambition of winning games and competitions
Might as well be at home on the couch otherwise

Theres a difference between being competitive and winning. If skills have been developed properly from an early age then lads should be equipped to compete at u13/15/17/19. Doesnt mean they need to be winning everything but winning has to be possible. If they dont develop these skills they will take hammerings in these grades and soon fade away. We need to equip these lads to be able to compete.

Someone posted earlier that a huge proportion of male suicides are by those working in construction.
Anyone else feel the culture of 'making a gobshite' out of lads (especially young lads) is part of the problem?
More experienced lads trying to make young lads look foolish or highlighting mistakes, making videos etc.?
Is this still prevalent and passed off as having the craic?

I worked in construction (although lads were sound) and in agri work (where lads made me feel like a fool) when younger. Id never work with the 2nd crowd again as a result.

If we are serious about maximising the potential of Portlaoise we need a strong county board willing to buy land and form at least one more GAA club in the town. Schools need to be designated to that club.eg Knockmay.  Putting nearly every child in Portlaoise into one primary school (Holy Family) is a major hindrance and an example of poor planning in a much broader sense but it can be done. Portlaoise is only getting bigger and one club will not suffice.

Kerry man living Kerry managing Laois Seniors and a Kerry man living in Laois managing Kerry u20's .... Joined up thinking!

and swapped management roles for 2020

If the GAA is any way serious about helping meet our carbon emission target, climate control and burning less fossil fuels they must step in a put a stop to this.

If we got Dempsey and a few additions to the panel we'd be well placed to have a go at leinster

Any chance Mick Dempsey would join Eddie Brennan in Laois? Be a serious addition.

God be with the days. Thank God I was there to see this great Laois team take on the best in the country..
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KimwOqnKz7M

Good to have the footage but hard to watch as the editing is truly woeful

I dont care who is over this team as long as they reach their potential. If it takes Derek McGrath and we have to pay him so what?
Maybe no stone is being left unturned to get the most out of this group and an outside man is needed as it looks like people in Laois are going to squabble over it.

Would be very disappointing to see a club like Slieve Bloom plummet down the grades after all they work put in to get there. Realistically they could be a solid Tier 2 team (call it what you like)  but would need a few more players to challenge.

The age old problem of ambitious players in clubs with limited resources seems to be the main problem here. Every player of senior cship standard from clubs in tier 2,3,4 etc should be facilitated. It helps the player as they play at a higher level, their home club as they dont lose them to bigger clubs, the senior cship as the standard would be higher, the county team as the pool of players playing top level club hurling is bigger. County board should create a group 2-3 respected individuals like Cheddar Plunkett to lead this. They could look to create 2-4 area teams that facilitate these players. Old bitterness needs to be buried. Its only crippling clubs. Would Raheen Parish, Tinnahinch, Castletown-Slieve Bloom, Ballyfin Gaels, Ballinakill/Ballypickas be options?

Maybe its only a pipedream...

Im going to throw the name Mick Bohan into the pot. Dublin ladies manager, worked with Jim Gavin as a selector, did very well with Clare.

Crettyard v Kileen was an aul scrap. The quality was low at times thou. Kingston was great to watch. Kileen are  a very old side. Crettyard dug deep with who they had, O' Carroll had a few nice.pints.Could have went either way at the end.

Would anyone be able to give an age break down of the killeen team? Id be familiar with maybe half of them and would guess at least 10 starters are over 30.

Taking All Ireland Gold as a guide then football in the 2040's will make todays football look rubbish. With this knowledge, is there any point in playing now?

Nobody is suggesting a radical overhaul but just that senior grade be played before the lower grades. Some teams in junior or intermediate are 10+ points weaker for the loss of 2/3 players as there isnt the depth to replace them. The 2nd teams could have been 5-10 pts stronger in rd1 as no senior was played. So junior/inter team missing a few v an overloaded (even by 2 or 3) 2nd team are open to getting a hiding. A hiding really kills hurling in some of these clubs who are fighting a numbers battle or sometimes a football battle too. County board didnt seem to care. How does this foster hurling?

100% correct. Whether the county board didnt care about or didnt realise the impact on Junior and intermediate clubs, either way it shows how inept they are. A complete joke.