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Good win today and great to see lads bounce back after poor carlow performance. Nice to see mossy back and laois scoring a few goals also. The lads played well, albeit poor opposition, also heard Willie Maher wasnt at the game as was in the US. Hopefully he will be able to make all the Joe McDonagh games.

Galway game was a shambles in my opinion no positives to take apart maybe Aaron Dunphy .

I left it 10 mins early because I was frozen and had forgot my hat .

I was surprised there was no more goals on the board for Galway when I heard the result after .

Our full back line was so slow when Galway got the ball in it was like a backs and forwards game you'd see where backs don't care.

I don't see much progress under the management but I probably don't got to enough games so maybe my comments could be a tad harsh

Agree with the above comments by UnLaoised. Was at the game myself with the young lads. Full back line really got exposed for pace, was a big worry, Galway looked like getting a goal anytime the ball went in. Only for Rowland making a number of super saves could of been way more goals. Shanahan was missed, as was Hartnett in there.

Really impressed by Tom cuddy so far, has made the step up to senior look easy. Quinlan and comerford also nice new additions.

Forward line still a bit all over the place, thought the new captain Aaron Dunphy work rate was impressive again, just need more lads working around him.

Hopefully management and players take learnings from this game, so these same issues won't come back to hurt us in Joe McDonagh.

Fonsy is suspended along with Jackman and Dan Shanahan, apparently for giving abuse to match officials after the Carlow game.

Dissapointing afternoon alright. We got off to a good start but then fizzled in and out of the match. Thought the referee definitely gave offaly some easy frees and caved a bit to the home crowd. Was really dissapointed with our management's decision making, in particular the slow response to bringing on subs and instructing the lads to break the momentum when offaly were going for the jugular. The most dissapointing thing was the game was there for us to take and we couldn't grind it out and get over the line. It's sad to see how far we've fallen since we last played offaly in the Joe macdonagh. Overall our fitness, first touch and decision making let us down big time and I think today showed us that the Joe macdonagh is the level we're at.

Thought the full back line was sluggish and way of the mark. Fonsy is just not a full back and was out of his depth there today. Was at fault for all three goals and seemed to struggle to read the game. I thought he should have been taken off after the second goal as he didn't even try to tackle the player coming in on goal.

Hartnett definitely struggled today, looked like he was trying to cover the full back position whilst trailing his own man, you're always going to lose possession if you play from behind. Thought fennell did alright, especially when he ran with the ball.

The half back line was all over the place as well. Would really question the defensive coaching that goes on at training. Both Fonsy and Mullaney kept trying to catch the ball with little success today, instead of batting down the ball, most of these failed catches resulted in scores for offaly, it was frustrating to see it happen over and over again. Like Hartnett, Podge was way off the mark today and made some questionable decisions. Shanahan seemed adrift for most of the match, thought he played great in the previous matches because he had a defined role, looked like he wasn't picking up anyone to mark today and it didn't suit his style of play.

Was really dissapointed by James keyes and his unwillingness to give the ball to the player in the best position to score, we could have been in line to get two goals if he just let the ball off instead of going for his own score. Felt sorry for Phelan, he had a tough day of it and thought he should have been taken off earlier. Ross King put in a good shift again when he came on today and really pushed himself. Duggan did alright but definitely needed more support up front. Picky got some great scores but seemed fatigued in the second half. I thought Corby played a blinder today, put in some great tackles and showed a great work ethic, was puzzled by his substitution.

Again this team doesn't seem to have the fitness required for 70 minutes plus of hurling  and can't seem to get a complete performance together. If lads are struggling why aren't they being taken off? It seems like it takes the sideline ages to make a decision. Also, why aren't they instructing our lads to go down or use the contact lens trick to break the momentum, Offaly had no problem doing this to us. I'm actually beginning to doubt Mahers tactical ability and hope he'll prove me wrong but honestly I'm not sure at this rate

God that was hard to watch. Some awful decisions made by players throughout the match, waiting till the last 5 minutes to go for goals, taking pot shots instead of securing scores and just a half hazard work rate. Westmeath have really surpassed us in regards to working the ball through the lines, work rate. and passing the ball to the player in the best position and creating space. I did think the referee made some questionable  decisions but the games was there for us to take.

Definitely agree that it's hard to have a game plan in the modern game but at thé same time you would think we could have had someone man marking Doyle. Again as I've said before, the half back line is a weak link for us, and it looked like Westmeath did their homework and exploited the cracks in our defence. I thought Podge Lawlor was out of his depth and that Liam senior should have been started instead. The same issue of our half backs roaming up the field to score creates a vacuum of space for Westmeath to take advantage of. Would really make you question the coaching of the backs

Westmeath were a good bit taller than most of our backs and yet we were trying to catch the ball instead of breaking the ball down. The two goals were shambolic, and showed just how far we've fallen behind,it also seems like the lads are struggling to read when to tackle and let the westmeath lads just run right in. Thought the full back line was sluggish today and I thought thar Rowland panicked with the puckouts after the goals went in. Don't understand why Jack Kelly comes back to take sidelines only to hit it where he's suppose to be whilst also creating a gap in the middle for westmeath to do as they like. Felt like Purcell ran out of steam within 10 minutes of the second half and perhaps should have been taken off.

I thought Phelan put in a good shift but doesn't get much support when he's on the run,with no one running off his shoulder or creating space. To be fair Ross King put in a good shift when he came on. Would have like to have seen some quicker substitutions. I'm beginning to question Willie Mahers judgement and tactical abilities. It felt like when the going got tough we just gave in, instead of breaking the play and regrouping to take on Westmeath. When the momentum was on our side Westmeath had no problem breaking the play. Again the game was there for us, but the individual nature of some players on our team meant that players went for scores that were not on instead of passing the ball to players in a better position and  securing the score. We just lack that ruthlessness to go for goals, like we should have punished westmeath in the first half when they were messing around with the ball in the backs. As the auld lad likes to say, goals win hurling matches. Definitely a hard day to be a Laois supporter.

One thing that bugs me big time.

I heard W Maher interviewed.

"Waterford are 6 or 7 years further down the road when it comes to S&C"....

How can this actually be?

Laois set ups for the past 5 or 6 years haven't been low budget.

Willie Maher is spot on though. We are years behind other counties when it comes to strength and conditioning, nutrition and sports psychology. Most of the lads in their mid twenties on the panel had no S&C when they were minors or when they were playing under 21 hurling. From Eamonn Kelly's time there was no proper S&C but rather half hazard generic programs for the lads. The nutritionist was giving some seriously questionable advice. Eddie Brennan tried to improve upon this but got a lot of push back from the County board over costs. In Cheddar's time they had a good fitness coach in year 1 but he disappeared in year 2. The S&C program seems too have been dropped in year 2 as well. Couple all the above with lads dropping off the panel and coming back in and also new faces joining the panel every year, it no wonder we are miles behind. So we may not like to hear it but it's true that this contribute to our poor performances.
Also heard Lennons back on the panel.

"Laois played well for 50 mins"
"We'll take the learnings and improve"
"We are working towards something"

Different management, same thing we have to listen to. Its almost like we are happy with how we are going, its acceptable.
For me, its pathetic. We are actually gradually getting worse every year. The gap is widening all the time.
I dont blame the players or management. They are lambs to the slaughter, someone to blame in an utterly shambolic set up from top to bottom.

Would have to strongly disagree. Change doesn't happen overnight, especially after years of under funding and under development and especially in a County where hurling is treated as a secondary interest of the county board. As highlighted by other posts on this forum, the development of hurling at underage and within the schools has been severely neglected. Whilst, the last two years in particular showed a significant regression in Laois senior inter county hurling. It's understandable to be frustrated, to question whether it's worth it for us to play against top tier teams. But even after some of the worst beatings we have ever had , if you asked the lads on the team would they prefer to play at a lower level the answer would be no. Our lads want to play against the best, it might not be pretty but they need to play against the best to improve. It's difficult to watch at the best of times but it's what it takes to improve.

I've seen the dedication it takes to play at senior level, the gym sessions, the winter slog, the journeys from college to training. Staying off the drink, eating right and committing yourself, knowing that at best you'll be contesting to stay up. The commitment these lads put in is unreal. We have the luxury of giving our opinions on this forum but the lads actually do the work. All I know is the lads are in a better headspace then they were under the last management, new faces are getting a chance and there's commitment to the new management.

Take this evening for example. Ryan Mullaney was repurposed as a centre forward and cleaned up. The half back line was tidied up and the lads started to pull together more as a team. There were plenty of mistakes and we definitely need a game plan for when we have an extra man and a game plan for when we are down to 14 men. To be honest we could do with a tactician. Either way there an improvement. Going forward we can build on this and lads can overcome their need to play as individuals and play as a cohesive unit.

Laois v Waterford will be live today on tg4 at 5pm.

Looks like Waterford are using all their big guns today with Gleeson on the bench. Our lads are in for a tough day but I'm hoping that they can improve upon last week's performance. From what I've heard there's some interestingly changes at play. The half back line still seems to be the root of our problems, it's great that the lads want to play in an attacking style but they don't track back or mark their players enough. In the first half of last week's match against Tipp, one of Tipps half forwards had 36 possessions in the first half, that's insane and shows that it's not worth one of our half backs getting a decent point if his player is going to have free roam to shoot at will.

I'm hoping the forwards give Rowland more options and space  for the puck outs as it was difficult for him last weekend. Hope Murt Phelan gets a chance to build back up his confidence and I am looking forward to seeing someone else stepping up and taking the frees.Looking forward to seeing how our full back line holds up against the likes of Hutchinson.

Good few lessons to take away from today's game. We started off sluggish but gradually got into the game and by half time it was ours to lose. Once offaly got the red card we didn't know what to do with the spare man, this has been a problem for us in the past. The two goals offaly got came from lack of communication in the back line. Unfortunately, Mullaney didn't seem at ease at full back and Dunne seemed to miss read a good few situations today. Thought Podge Delaney did well at centre back and that the two yellows he received were ridiculous. To be honest thought the ref lost the run of himself after the red card and there were several questionable decisions. However our discipline slipped and that's something we've got to improve on. Thought Phelan was great and worked tirelessly in the forwards. We need to get better with our shooting decisions and pass it to the man in the best position as opposed to just going for pot shots.

We have this awful habit of turning in on ourselves when the going gets tough. Instead the lads need to get it together and play cohesively. Thought Corby did well and covered a lot of ground. Duggan did well but should have backed himself for that goal chance in the second half. We still let the sliotar out too easy from the forwards and I hope that they work on this in training. In saying that I still think that the half back line is not right and leaves a lot of room for errors. Missed the likes of Fiachra fennell today as he actually tracks back. Would prefer to see Hartnett manning the backs as he seems to be able to get the lads to communicate and keep some sort of formation. Definitely need to work on breaking the ball better in the backs and working it out the line at a faster pace.

Today was definitely an eye opener, we slipped back into some bad habits instead of pushing on and punishing Offaly, we were the ones that got punished. Still positive in comparison to this time last year. Hopefully the lads will tackle these issues head on and be prepared for Tipperary.

Very encouraging start for the lads today. The full back line really put in a great performance today. Nice to see some new faces getting a run out and some familiar faces lining out in different positions. Mossy Keyes was a delight to watch. Great to see such a crowd in Mountrath.

Still plenty of room for improvement, in particular our half back line needs work, too much space and an unwillingness to mark up puts immense pressure on the full back line. Thought the forwards could work a bit harder in winning back position but hopefully they will work on this in training.

Even though it's the Walsh cup, I'd be interested to see how we get on next week against Kilkenny.

Great appointment and I wish Willie Maher all the best as laois manager. Im looking forward to seeing big Dan on the side line with the laois baseball cap turned backwards!! He will bring a bit of blaa buzz to the set up.

Goalkeepers
E Rowland
C Dunne
E Fleming

Backs
D Hartnett
P Delaney
L Cleere
S Downey
P Dunne
R Mullaney
D Conway
J Kelly
C McEvoy

Midfielders
P Purcell
F Fennell
J Keyes
A Corby
C Stapleton

Forwards
P Maher
C Dwyer
R King
A Dunphy
M Keyes
J Duggan
M Kavanagh
E Lyons
B Conroy
PJ Scully
M Dowling
C Collier
J Ryan
B McGinley

I may have left out an obvious one or two by mistake

The panel above would go very close to winning the Joe Mc. I think the incentive is there for these lads to commit. A big day out in a national final in croke park for players and supports alike should be on the cards here with the chance a la 2019 v Dublin also possible.
I do believe the non-committals will regret not doing all they can when they have the opportunity. The summer in America can still be done as the Joe Mc will be over by then so that's not really a valid excuse anymore either.

The only one I think that could consider retiring is Willie Dunphy. Has had plenty of injury issues down the years and certainly owes the county nothing. Very committed player over the past 10-12 years. Of the panel above id say only maybe 1 or 2 are over the 30 mark and all have lots to offer at county level.

Lets hope Willie can convince them this is worth the effort

Cha and Downey off travelling as well. Heard Picky will be doubtful for this year's panel. Hopefully a few new faces will join the panel.

The Harps By 5
Castletown By 2
Camross by 10

Not a hope of Castletown beating Rosenallis, I'd even go as far as saying Rosenallis outside of R/E and Ballacolla is probably the next best team in the county some fine hurlers, I imagine them beating Castletown By 6/7/8 points.

Wish I had the same optimism for Rosenallis. Good team on paper, but struggling to get team lineup right. If Castletown run at them, they'll be there for the taking. Can't understand why they don't play Fiachra Fennell in the centre forward position, he's got great goal potential and can run for days. From the last match, it seems a waste to have Hartnett at corner back, he'd be a better shout around midfield. Think Rosenallis have potential but can see Castletown beating them.

Good to hear. Buglers tactics are more defensive than anything i have seen before, very hard to watch.
The whole process seems very slow compared with other counties that have changed manager but its worth delaying to get the best possible man for the job

spose its hard to get through all the fellas bateing our door down

[/Sheedy and O Shea going to take the offaly job. Was it so ludicrous of me suggesting them for the laois job now? I was laughed at by most on here for suggesting the same a few weeks ago.  I did question our ambition in who we could go for, nothing wrong with Offalys ambition. Please spare me of any comments on Shane Lowrys bank account in relation to Sheedy's pending appointment. I read enough rubbish on social media.]

Sheedy has looked for a 15 man plus backroom team to be put in place if he's to take the Offaly Job among a number of other criteria which he will want met as well.

I'm all ears as to how laois would fund this

Some coup for Offaly, no doubt the funding available enticed Sheedy to the role.

I think that Laois Co Board needs to reconsider the funding model that we currently employ. Separate sponsorship for the hurlers via larger multinationals such as Greenfield Global, BNL sciences, or ALS could potentially improve the funding situation. It's definitely worth a shot at reaching out to these groups.

Also, we are so close in proximity to Carlow IT, which has a great strength and conditioning program, and nutrition and sports psychology programs. The county board should be actively working with their master's and Ph.D. students to get reliable strength and conditioning programs and nutrition programs at a reduced price. Other hurling counties are already taking advantage of universities and ITs to build their strength and conditioning programs. The same goes for stat analysis.

I hope we sign off on a new manager soon and have a decent backroom team with actual knowledge of the hurlers available. 

I'm baffled by the constant begrudgery towards Brennan. That match you are referring to against Westmeath, was where Brennan reserved the first team and gave new players a chance. As regards the championship in 2020, which took place during the height of the pandemic, resulted in a 1-point loss to Clare, which we honestly should have won.

By no means was Eddie's time with Laois perfect. He had injuries to contend with and he had plenty of players who opted out of the panel. However, with the panel he had, he brought Laois its first bit of success in a long time. He brought intensity. Trainings were dogged and the players bought into that and there was a competitive ethos instilled in the players and more importantly competition for spaces. He gave the players confidence and for the first time in a long while, Laois played as a team and not just a group of individuals.

Going back to the Joe McDonagh seems like a fitting punishment after a dismal 2 years. I can see where people are coming from in saying that it would be a more suitable level for us and would allow us to rebuild. However, look at Carlow, they've been stuck in the Joe McDonagh for a few years and it hasn't done them any favors at all, they wanted to rebuild like us and now they are stagnating.

I know we have decent players. However, the current team has had their confidence decimated and it truly showed in the match against Westmeath. Our first touch, our basic passes, and our ability to read the game and play as a cohesive team have just evaporated. Imagine what it feels like going out to be annihilated every week. Imagine having to face a dressing room at halftime where your manager is breaking tables and has clearly lost the confidence and respect of his players. Facing into lackluster training, where more time is spent on meetings than actual hurling. Imagine that in this day and age the Laois set-up has no basic video analysis available after each match. In Brennan's time, the players used an app to watch video analysis prior to training and this hasn't been used at all with the current management. GPS monitoring and statistics haven't been used at all under the current management. We have one of the smallest backroom teams in the country and it has created a vacuum of silence, where no one is held accountable and no one is encouraged to actively improve their performance by using basic stats or video analysis feedback.

Definitely think it is worthwhile to get outside management and build a backroom team that incorporates modern thinking and uses the basic video analysis and stats available to the team. Would also like to see an opportunity for the players to air their grievances to the county board independent of management.

As I've said before, Cheddar has been a massive servant to Laois hurling and we all recognize the time and effort he has given to the county. The last 2 years have been a sorry end to a lifetime of dedication to hurling.

https://www.laoistoday.ie/2022/05/04/talking-sport-podcast-would-the-joe-mcdonagh-cup-be-a-better-fit-for-the-laois-hurlers/

What a woeful piece of journalism. Miller and Hartnett should be ashamed of themselves. I seemed to have missed the podcast that suggested that  the footballers would be better off dropping down to the tailteann cup. I can't understand for the life of me why they can't get someone who has an actual understanding of hurling on their podcast. The answer to a bad year of hurling is not to drop down.

Unlike what Miller likes to believe, the problem lies with the management and the county board. Cheddar was a quick fix for an embarrassing situation following the fallout with Eddie Brennan. As I said last year after the match against Wexford, the writing was on the wall. Cheddar doesn't have a game plan, he uses all the correct phrases but if you actually listen to what he is saying it's all fluff and no substance. He doesn't listen to the players at all and the excuses with injuries is just pathetic at this stage. Good players have dropped off the panel, the lads still on the panel are at their wits end and the support from the team has plummeted to an all time low.

I hope Cheddar does the right thing and steps down after this season. He's given a lot to Laois and it would have been better if he retired from inter county management on a high note. Just hoping that the lads can get it together for a win over Westmeath and regroup.