Niall Rigney new Laois Manager

[The Real Laoislad]

Niall Rigney has been appointed as the manager of the Laois senior hurling team after the resignation of Damian Fox.

A meeting of Laois hurling club delegates heard a letter read from Fox outlining his reasons for stepping down and his resignation was accepted by the delegates.

Selector Andy Dunne also stepped down, but the name of the third outgoing selector Rigney, along with his former county team-mate Joe Dollard, was put before the meeting and unanimously approved for the remainder of the season.

The new management will meet the players on Thursday night, with training for the qualifiers set to commence on Friday evening.

Both Rigney and Dollard are recognised as the two outstanding Laois players of the 1990s and Dollard was a member of the U-21 management team this season.

Fox was understood to be unhappy with the numbers turning up to training after the O'Moore men's heavy loss to Offaly in the Leinster SHC quarter-final.

-RTÉ.ie

[INDIANA]

think its a good move, he'll get the best of the hurlers in laois who aren't playing football out. judging by our 21 game against you recently, i wouldn't give up hope yet. doesn't help when you lose guys like john o loughlin but that 21 team were much better than your senior team.

[neilthemac]

why can't Laois ever keep it together for one good season?

they have good hurlers. they should be challenging Dublin, Offaly and Wexford

[The Real Laoislad]

why can't Laois ever keep it together for one good season?

they have good hurlers. they should be challenging Dublin, Offaly and Wexford

Couple of reasons

1 - Football is now the dominate code in Laois
2 - The likes of Castletown/Camross situation where they are more interested in bating the heads of each other is wide spread in Laois

[Bord na Mona man]

I'm surprised Fox lasted so long. He has surprised me with some of his utterances and his decision making while in charge.
At least Rigney may have the respect of the players.
He was a great warrior, especially on bad days when Leix were taking a trimming.
I remember back in '99 when Kilkenny stuck 6 goals past them in Croke Park.
Rigney (a natural defender) was moved up to centre forward and hurled Kilkenny on his own and scored 11 points, several from play.

[Treasurer]

Yesterday's Indo...

Fox pleads with Laois to get their house in order

Thursday June 26 2008

AFTER becoming the third high-profile manager to resign in the last three months, Damian Fox has warned Laois that they need to take serious stock of their hurling situation if they are to avoid dropping into Christy Ring territory.

Fox quit after efforts to fire up the squad for the All-Ireland qualifier tie against Galway or Antrim failed amid an outbreak of apathy which reached breaking point last Saturday when only three players from a panel of 26 arrived on time for a 2.30 training session in Clonad.

Seven more arrived late and while a few players were injured, half the squad stayed away, offering no explanation for their absence.

"After that it was clear there was no point continuing. We trained last Thursday when 13 fit players turned up.

"Training was called for Saturday afternoon to suit the players but when I saw the response, I knew the game was up," said Fox.

Fox stresses that at no time had he a falling-out with the players, nor had they sought his resignation.

"There's a lack of interest among some players in playing for the county. We had a hard core who would do anything to succeed, but I'm afraid it didn't seem to matter enough to the rest.

"They took the easy option which was to back off from the big challenge. Some of the excuses I got when lads missed training were simply ridiculous," he said.

Laois lost to Offaly by 18 points in the Leinster quarter-final after which Fox threw down a challenge to the squad to re-double their efforts for the qualifiers.

But it appears that since it was always likely that Laois would be facing Galway many of the players had no interest in taking on one of the All-Ireland favourites.

Challenge

"Lads knew they didn't step up to the plate against Offaly. I would have thought that the qualifier game -- even if it was against Galway -- was the sort of challenge anybody who wears a county jersey would want, but obviously that wasn't the case here.

"Lots of things have changed in terms of how the players were looked after over the past two years. I made that a top priority when I came in and I'd have to say the County Board delivered. The players were well treated but some of them didn't give anything back, especially after the Offaly game," he said.

Training was called 10 days after that defeat but only six players turned up. Six more were either injured or had genuine excuses, three were abroad but the rest made no contact. A total of 17 turned up for a challenge game against Carlow last Tuesday week but it was down to 13 for training two nights later, followed by the pathetic attendance last Saturday.

Several players refused to join the panel in the first place, something which Fox could not understand.

"There were several players who didn't want to know about the Laois panel. Maybe it's the big fish in a small pond syndrome; they're happy to be stars in Laois but don't want to test themselves outside. The local media don't help as they have a habit of giving a star billing to lads who haven't proved themselves outside Laois," he said

Fox believes that Laois hurling needs a complete overhaul and warns that unless there's a change of attitude, the senior team is in danger of slipping down to the second tier.

"Pat Critchley and several others are doing lots of great work at juvenile level but it will take time for that to show higher up. Laois minors lost to Meath this year which wouldn't have happened very often in the past," Fox added.

Fox follows in the footsteps of John Maughan (Roscommon) and Justin McCarthy (Waterford), who quit in mid-season, and now plans to return to hurling for Tullamore and working on his golf handicap.

Future

"It was four when I took over in Laois but I've hardly hit a ball since. I'm leaving Laois knowing I did everything I could to get things right. It's now up to everybody else I dealt with to ask themselves if they did the same because ultimately the future of Laois hurling is in Laois hands," he said.

Former Laois star, Niall Rigney will take charge of the team for the qualifier tie on Saturday week.

[The Real Laoislad]

 Rigney set for survival battle as Laois dual stars return




AFTER weeks of bad news, Laois hurling has received a boost with the return of dual players Darren Rooney, Cahir Healy and John O'Loughlin to the senior county squad.

The trio had devoted all their energies to football up to now, but have answered the call as new hurling manager Niall Rigney prepares a rescue package to help Laois avoid the drop to the Christy Ring Cup tier.

Technically, Laois are still in contention for the Liam McCarthy Cup, although their 20/1 rating against Galway next Saturday underlines the enormity of the challenge ahead. Rigney promised that they would give full commitment to that game, but stressed that their real target was survival in the top flight.

If, as seems certain, Laois and Antrim (who play Waterford) lose on Saturday they will meet in a relegation play-off a fortnight later. The losers will play the winners of the Christy Ring Cup to decide who qualifies for next year's Liam McCarthy Cup.

"It's clear what's at stake here. We need to make sure that we're in the top tier next year but we'll have to work very hard for that," said Rigney, who took over after Damian Fox resigned as manager early last week.

Outstanding

Rigney was a selector with Fox and paid tribute to the Offaly man, saying he did everything he could to make Laois competitive. However, poor attendances at training after the defeat by Offaly prompted Fox to resign.

"Being asked to manage your county is a great honour, even at a time like this. I didn't shirk challenges as a player and I won't shirk this," said Rigney.

"What we want now is for genuine hurling people in Laois to get behind us. We don't care what the lads on the bar stools say — they'll criticise anyway."

Rigney has 28 players back in training, including Mick McEvoy, who was out of the country for some months.

The footballers' return is a big boost and will lead to Laois hurlers seeking a deferral of the relegation game if they lose on Saturday. It is fixed for July 19, the same day as the footballers are due to play Longford in the All-Ireland qualifiers. Even a 24-hour postponement would help the hurlers' cause.

Rigney said that irrespective of what impression might have been created, the squad were very keen to play for Laois.

-Irish Independent

[G@@]

Couple of reasons
1 - Football is now the dominate code in Laois
2 - The likes of Castletown/Camross situation where they are more interested in bating the heads of each other is wide spread in Laois

I would take issue with you there Lad. The relationships between the other 11 senior hurling clubs in Laois are very good. None of that carry on happens between the rest of us.
Also, there are many other counties with club problems like Castletown/Camross yet it does not affect them having a serious county side.

[Onlooker]

It is great to see dual players making a bit of a come back at inter county level.  Well done to them.

[The Wedger]

Niall Rigney is up in arms over the Antrim match not getting postponed because of the three dual players being unavailable.
However, since these players weren't even on the hurling panel till a few days ago, he can hardly complain now! 

[INDIANA]

cahir healy is the only one who  is back the otehr two haven't returned.