SHC 2026

[Verbal]

There is a point that Ogie makes re Castletown.
Their conversion of great minors to very good seniors has been very poor over the last 5-6 years.
Guys haven't really made the expected step up.

[Leixhurlingman]

Thoughts on the weekend's games:

CB - As expected, they're starting to kick into gear. Obviously against weak opposition, but to have a team of quality hurlers pinging ball to hand all over the field with Aidan Corby & Steven Bergin on the bench.. its a real show of strength. And worth noting, their 2nd team winning with a team full of kids to add to the previous comment.

Portlaoise - They have a trend of starting the championship strong and put in a decent result/performance but consistently die off and lose players later in the campaign. It wouldn't be right losing 2x games in a row by 20+ points and getting to a 1/4 final.

RE - As already remarked, this downfall has been coming for years. With the majority of their underage teams competing in the B grades, and not overly successful even at that. Add in the quality of players they've lost in the past 5 years. Laois greats like Joe Fitz & Dubhie to Eric Kileen, these established senior players have been replaced by intermediate standard players. These players are actually 30 years old and played with their 2nd team for 10 years, and are only making the senior team by default. In 3 years - Paddy Purcell will be 37, Worker & Tadhg Dowling 36, Jack Kelly 33.. Unfortunately, this is a great club entering the wilderness.

Rosenallis - Looking a solid side. Some decent hurlers, a little limited for talisman forwards. Johno proving to have really done a fine job with them. A really promising coach to have within. I can see him having a strong case for taking the Laois job in the next 5 years. He will have alot of respect and obviously the heart to do the job.

BK - Not flowing overly well. Scully gone, Still have a nice team and will have a big performance in them when it's needed. Hard to see them beating a CB or Camross but I can see them keeping their best performance for this type of game but ultimately losing a semi.

Camross - Like any club, Without their best 2 forwards in Mark Dowling & Mossy they lacked the killer instinct and fear but they still have solid players in young Cuddy in the corner, Collier and Eoin Gaughan who's an excellent club hurler. A little similar to CB, they're a step ahead of the rest.

Harps - the 2 Duggan's have the X factor. It was James's day this time, I imagine he scored 2-4 or 2-5 from play. 2-2 of which were outstanding scores. The goals he gets are genius, He is a class act. A Laois full forward line without Mossy & Duggan at this stage is doing the county team a disservice. Harps having probably the most impressive management team also they look good. But anything other than reaching a county final will be a failure for them.

Ballinakill - just didn't have enough in them. They don't have a Duggan that can produce the magic anymore. Cha is 32, and playing a a QB role which removes an element of power up top for them. Downey & Podge Lalor missing are 2 solid back men also which they can't afford to lose. Obviously, Downey is gone for years but as an overall picture for a small club that do punch above their weight.

Looking forward to the next stage.

[Laoisred]

Abbeyleix was story of the weekend for me. I watched them against CB in Round 4 and they were so poor, completely lost their shape (especially upfront) and looked like a team that weren't bothered. I know they have a stronger team available now but they were transformed in two weeks and looked like a team that really wanted the win. They will beat Rosenallis on that showing and make a semi final. You would not have thought that a few weeks back.
 
I know people will put the boot in on R/E and it is easy after the event. But after beating Ballinakill in Rd1, they really should have beaten camross in Rd2 when they went 9 up. They actually played well and got caught. Again in Rd3 against Rosenallis went from 6 down and a man down to 3 up and could not hold on for a draw with the ball in their hand in midfield. Played some great hurling down to 14 men but shot themselves in the foot with a stupid sending off. Rd4 was a good performance against a very poor Portlaoise. Yesterday v Abbeyleix was very flat apart from first 20mins really. I'm not sure what is going on in there in terms of s and c training but they seem to be missing players all year. Padraig Rafter and Liam O'Connell again yesterday, both county men in the last couple of years sitting on the line and not available. In the context of Eric Killeen, Brandon McGinly and Ross King leaving Ireland in 2025, the team that was in the final in 2024 is just not available to them. I looked at their bench yesterday and it was very limited in my view. Surprising for a club who won the Prem Intermediate League this year.

Pity about the last game, with RE beaten it was the ultimate dead rubber. I'm not sure either team learned much. It just gave Harps and Abbeyleix a chance to see who they'll be facing, and did as much for them as it did for BK and Rosenallis.

I was also at the Portlaise and CB game on Friday night. The less said the better. At least Portlaoise, who lost their last 2 games by a combined 56 points are spared the embarrassment of a quarter final.

[Laois man]

Ctown won the last 2 minor finals some of them lads won't make breakthrough at adult level for a few years yet if they ever do lads have to get stronger and fill out first. But there is some good lads coming out of those 2 minor teams. There in the junior B and A finals plus Premier intermediate sfinal so numbers must be good out there.

[ottoman]

Do ye know anything about Laois hurling or watching anything happening?

R/E could be relegated in the next 3 to 4 years their underage is in such a mess Blow in you obvs are not involved

Castletown have not senior quality coming through, bar one or two players off two minor panels, Abbeyleix ? I dunno where they come into the conversation
Camross are Camross and culture trumps all else
Ballacolla have moved ahead of the pack in the last few years, again building a culture for players to come thought, but are struggling underage

Portlaoise are never going to be the force they were again, not in hurling maybe in football.
The harps could potentially take over for next few years if they could make a breakthrough with the numbers they have and funding in the area,
BK will be fine too, young senior team and good juvenile club bringing through a few each year

Ballacolla are an interesting one. Have they ever truly had a period of domination underage? They obviously produce good teams.

But as long as I've known them they have a good crop one year, then a crop behind them comes along and plays in the B grades, then they might have a year of an amalgamations. Then another good crop may come along. They obviously only pick from 2 small schools so numbers will vary. Ive been told they have no class going into junior infants in one of the schools this year.

But they seem to maxamise every single player that comes along. Is it some kind of luck that will eventually run out? I'm not trying to insult the great work that they obviously do. I'm just curious about what makes them successful longterm.

I'd imagine that's potentially Ballacolla School that has those numbers. I think Clough fares slightly better in terms of numbers. My nephew was in Ballacolla a few years ago and there were only two in his class, one boy and one girl.

As to how long they can stay at the top, or close to it, that's hard to call. As you said, they do seem to maximise what they bring through. And those young lads are growing up watching county-winning teams as they develop, which to me is probably the most important part.

So many teams struggle to make that breakthrough simply because they don't know how to win at the top level. When you're coming through in a setup where winning is already the expectation, and you've grown up watching the lads ahead of you do it, that's a massive advantage.