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Westmeath have possibly the best full back in the country-one of main reasons they concede so few goals. Those injuries are worrying for Laois. We really need our strongest team out to be competitive against Wexford.

Meaney never had the discipline, decision-making or distribution to be a top midfielder. At club-level he will dominate due to his size and athleticism. However, at inter-county level to be a really top midfielder that is not enough. He also has a tendency to concede needless frees in scoring positions when tracking back which can be infuriating.

For those reasons McNulty tried something different with Kevin-with his size and physical attributes it was a no brainer to try him full back and he did reasonable well there that year. Laois recorded some impressive championship victories and pushed Dublin well in an All-Ireland Quarter Final and lost only to the concession of a deflected goal. I think it is worth trialing Meaney in a centre back position (not ideal I know on eve of first round of Leinster championship). He actually may be better suited to holding a centre back position and if he shows restraint from rushing in or trying to execute the 'big hit' he could be effective in that position. Too often over the last number of years, Laois have been torn asunder with teams simply running straight at them. As few other posters have identified-we need to be smarter defensively this year in the championship and hopefully this will be evidence in our opening game against Longford.   

Hopefully Healy's injury doesn't prove too bad and can be back in time for Leinster first round proper game-if we qualify as is looking likely at the moment.

With Kerry facing the possibility of relegation if they lose I reckon it will be a ferocious battle in Tralee come the final group game. It would be very satisfying to relegate a bogey team of ours from both league and championship in the one season. I think there is every chance Westmeath beat Meath by a couple of points and with Kerry possessing a minus score difference the game could present Laois with an opportunity to showcase a ruthlessness and dispatch Kerry to Christy Ring for 2018. 
   

Laois minors weren't exactly impressive last year losing badly to Meath in their first game, beaten well in Leinster final and Galway were far too strong for them in the All-Ireland quarter final. We ended up in a Leinster final mainly due to Meath, Dublin, Kildare all ending up on one side of the draw after the opening series of games if my memory serves me correct. While I wouldn't have removed Rooney from the role I wouldn't be confident in saying he would have done much better with this group of players than the current management are doing. Laois GAA is now on a par with counties like Longford, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow at underage level. Unfortunately, we need to accept where we are at. Management can only work with the players that are there. Laois supporters need to stop comparing our current minor teams to the teams from 1995-2007. A decade or more has passed. Hard luck to the lads today. They gave it their best shot and they can't be faulted for that. It was a close game with Louth getting the crucial goal in extra time to edge it.   

I was hoping that some of Laois' poor league performances were down to them being heavy-legged due to putting in serious training sessions between league games but that it would ultimately pay off come the Summer. Sadly that's not the case and it's worrying to hear that they only stepping up training now. It might pay dividends but it feels like a last roll of the dice from the management in the hope that something positive will come of it.

Great to have a player of Timmons caliber back playing. One of few true leaders that we have. Realistically, he's not going to be 100% by the Summer but even at 80% would be well worth his place. I think management need to work on tweeking the zonal approach to defending that Laois teams seem to have adopted the last number of years-players happy enough to 'be in their zone' rather than fighting tooth and nail to win the ball ahead of their opponent and making life as difficult as possible for their direct opponent. I'd be happy if our backs put 100% concentration into defending/winning ball as opposed to making runs up the field and constantly looking to get on ball and provide a score. Too often when attacks break down (which they often do) we are left totally exposed on the counter attack and provide our opposition with too much space and room to run in to. We have a talented full-forward line in Kingston, O'Carroll and Walsh. Let's get the ball in to them quick and early and see what they can produce rather than having our half-backs/midfield carrying the ball up the field and allowing the opposition funnel back players who ultimately crowd out and break down our attacks. Kerry provided a blue print against Dublin of what can be achieved by moving ball quickly into your chief score getters.         

In Dublin there are Junior and Senior leagues in CnamB so from about 3/4th class on children are involved in playing matches. Different areas also run their own area leagues as well e.g. Fingal League which is for both Junior and Senior teams. If involved in both-playing football and hurler that is a considerable amount of games, aiding the development of young players. However, it relies hugely on the voluntary work of teachers to keep this going. We need to get more of our footballers and hurlers into the teaching career. Works well for the Kilkenny, Tipp and Waterford hurlers having so many go into teaching and then return to teach locally. They naturally end up getting involved in the coaching of teams at school and club level. 

I have constantly questioned the commitment of a couple our county players who remained on the panel/team year in year out and never committed to doing the hard work on the field of tackling and sacrificing themselves to cover back, win dirty ball etc.. It's that determination to win and give it your all for your county that has been sadly lacking. Due to serous lack of competition for places over the years these lads have got away with it and been pampered to their whole careers. If pulled up on their lack of appetite/commitment/work-rate their response has been generally to tell management to f**k off. In their eyes they are never to blame when teams like Tipperary, Antrim, Clare outwork us and show more desire to win in championship games. Now that we have been relegated to Division 4, maybe some soul searching might finally take place and that these lads might realise what is needed in order to complete at this level and hopefully we will get some response come the championship. I have read a number of posters on this forum questioning why Healy commits to the hurlers over the footballers. The last two performances by our hurlers against Wexford and Kerry showed huge heart, commitment and desire-while they mightn't win a Leinster championship there is still huge satisfaction knowing that you as a team have given everything to the cause on the field of play. Could all our footballers say the same after Sunday's game. I'm probably being naive but surely these lads will want to restore some self pride and put in a respectable championship run.     

Anyone on this forum ever had personal experience working with any of the GDA's? What is your opinion on them and why?

How one or two of these lads were appointed (nepotism) was wrong, especially when it was clearly evident that they were unsuitable for the job. A lack of desire or onus on the part of these same individuals to engage in CPD at present is also very worrying. However, I don't think we should tar all the GDA's with the same brush and starting a discussion with regards to personal experiences of working with them achieves nothing and would be unwise.

Great win and great heart shown by Laois team tonight. We can't ask much more of this panel as they gave everything. Deserved the victory I thought. Referee gave Kerry every chance with the amount of injury time played at the very end. It would have been some spectacle to watch a free taking shoot out but I'm not sure my nerves would have taken it.

It's like Kerry have a heck on this Laois team. Enda needs to get his head back into the game after that error. Why he just didn't let sliotar go over bar I don't know. Hopefully he can redeem himself. It's a big ask to win this now after playing virtually the whole game with 14 men. Fair play to Kerry though-they never give up. 

Fair play to B-ABU on throwing out his last statement. If Laois lose then he'll be posting feeling vindicated for his criticism of current Laois management. However by also stating that it's a 50/50 game it gives him a way out if Laois do pull off a victory. 

I don't rate Offaly's forward line too highly and would be hopeful that the Laois defense will contain Offaly to a reasonable score. If we can supply good ball into Kingston and Evan then we should have every chance. Offaly have conceded big against other teams with good forward lines in this year's league- Tipp 2-15, Armagh 6-22, Louth 2-13. Sligo managed to find back of Offaly net twice last week as well. They are vulnerable- the issue is if we can supply the forwards with enough good ball to do damage. My gut feeling is that we will. The stakes are high and I hope the lads respond and give their best performance of the league to date.     

Great post High Fielder. Only for stupid red cards Laois could be in a position where a win against Offaly would see them finish the league with five wins and two losses. Both those losses were with seriously depleted teams with a lot of our senior panel members missing or not fully fit. We don't have the reserves in Laois to compensate for injured players and county standard players (Boyle, Meredith etc) unable to commit to panel. I'm satisfied with the job Creedon has done so far- he's blooded a number of new players and has used the league to build his squad. When you see the likes of McMahon returning to the fold at 32 years of age and Munnelly staying on to provide his experience it would indicate to me that things are good in the Laois set-up. These lads have been great servants to Laois football and wouldn't still be there if things weren't right. Creedon should be judged on how this team develops over the next 24 months. At present he is working with a team that didn't end up in Division 3 by fluke. For a number of years we flirted with relegation from Division 2 before the inevitable happened.     

I was just wondering if Kelly used some of the posts here stating that Laois would be better off playing in Division 2 as motivation before the Wexford game. Could you imagine as a player seeing those comments and the lack of faith shown in them.  I personally think it would be a huge set back dropping down a division and ridiculous that lads would consider this the best option for the county. Look at Antrim-it hasn't done them any favours. The lads have gained huge experience for playing in 1B this season and I would be optimistic that they will be in a much better position next season to challenge some of the stronger teams in 1B (once the GAA don't tamper with the structures like I fear they will to have an eight team Division 1 next season).   
     

I'll take the win but still plenty to work on. Very disappointed with how certain players continue to give away cheap frees. Meaney for example, with a minute to go, conceded a needless free about 30 metres straight in front of goal by throwing out a flailing arm with his opponent going away from goal. Longford ultimately missed the free but had it been knocked over like it should have been there was every chance Longford could have won the next ball from the Laois kickout and sneaked an equaliser. Carroll's sending off was also silly and had Longford completed their comeback we would have been in the position of losing three games on the bounce thanks largely to having a man sent off. Some of our tackling can be lazy and lacking 100% in effort and it is going to kill us in close games. There is very little in difference between most division 2 and 3 teams in personnel. What divides them is how they apply themselves on the field, discipline and working collectively as a team. Counties like Monaghan, Galway and Louth seem to have mastered that at the moment. We still have a bit of work to get to that level. There won't be too much between Laois and Offaly but I would fancy us to preserve our Division 3 status if Kingston, O'Loughlin, Carroll and Conway are firing. I think Laois have a slightly better scoring threat to Offaly that will ultimately prove the difference.   

Disappointing loss but it's great to see the keyboard warriors out in force. This crop of U21 players would not be considered strong collectively-In my opinion only 3/4 of them would have realistic ambitions of progressing onto Laois senior team. You can only work with the players you have and unfortunately some of our bigger players didn't have their best games last night. Laois dominated the early stages of that game and should have had more scores on the board before the Offaly goal. It was a classic example of a young team losing composure with the concession of the goal while Offaly gained in momentum and confidence after Laois handed them a get out of jail card. It's easy with hindsight to criticise decisions made by management. Momentum was against them and management tried to alter things as a result. It didn't work which is unfortunate. For those to come on here and state Kavanagh etc should be disposed of is being ridiculous. We lost a close semi final by a point. With better luck and more accurate shooting Laois could easily have come out on the right side of that result last night. The players seem very positive about the approach to training this year and the current set-up.

I'm interested to hear what alternatives our keyboard warriors suggest to replace Creedon/Kavanagh. Maybe they should band together collectively themselves to mange all Laois inter-county teams.