Laois Senior Hurlers 2021

[Ogie]

Nail on the head Giovanni
I don't get this requiring time to implement a completely new game plan, we have the same hurlers available with a few good additions, there is no need to re invent the wheel here, tweak it ya but keep progressing, not pause and reset, the mood around the camp is one of frustration at the moment.

At present id be nervous of the Westmeath game and could not see us beating Antrim to survive on current form.

Club league games seem to have been a mostly non event with most teams only having one game hurled, Camross training panel strength always sets them up well for the league and they have hit the ground running, BK will be concerned with leaking that many goals but im sure are trying like Ballacolla to time their run and peak in mid august.
Good win for Abbeyleix against a really under strength RE, missing their Intermediate panel too, good win for a young Castletown team.

[redsetanta]

I thought it was a decent performance on Saturday. Again mistakes and poor passing was an issue. The wides have to be sorted out because we will not win a game with the amount of wides we are hitting. Hopefully the return of Willie and Cha and others will help in this regard. I though Picky played very well and is growing into his new role. There is great fight in the team and we have the potential to upset someone if it clicks on the day. There's also no guarantee that it will be Antrim we'll play as they have every chance of beating Dublin in the QF.
I wouldn't have the same doom and gloom as some of you.

[Helix.]

Very quiet build up to first round call Wexford on Saturday evening. Seem to have more injuries Diarmuid Conway and John Lennon added to list. Hopefully Laois can be more efficient with their shooting up front and hurl with some consistency rather than in small patches in last few games. Hopefully it will be an improved performance from last game vs Wexford.

[portlaoisekid]

The hope is all will click at the right time Saturday but I cant see it happening, everything has been so disjointed in every way so far its going to be a tough ask...

If we avoid relegation  this year it will be success and something to build on but by god its a far cry from All Ireland 1/4 day in 2019 .

[burdizzo]

Avoiding relegation would be a massive achievement. It feels like 'normal service resumed'. But we shall see.

[Laois Rising]

Can posters be realistic here please. Laois have been seriously hampered by injuries this year and with such a short period of contact time for the new management what more could Cheddar have been expected to get out of this Laois team. Even with a number of players returning from injury for tomorrow's game, they realistically cannot be expected to be fully match sharp. It's unfortunate how things have played out. However, Cheddar has got Cha and Scully back on board. It will take another season I reckon before we will see the best of them at intercounty level. With Kavanagh hopefully back next year, along with the likes of Comerford who is developing all the time and stalwarts like Dunphy, Purcell and King staying onboard it's going to be 2022 before we see the true potential of this Laois side.   

Avoiding relegation would be a massive achievement. It feels like 'normal service resumed'. But we shall see.

[redsetanta]

Well said Laois Rising.

[Zooming around]

Can posters be realistic here please. Laois have been seriously hampered by injuries this year and with such a short period of contact time for the new management what more could Cheddar have been expected to get out of this Laois team. Even with a number of players returning from injury for tomorrow's game, they realistically cannot be expected to be fully match sharp. It's unfortunate how things have played out. However, Cheddar has got Cha and Scully back on board. It will take another season I reckon before we will see the best of them at intercounty level. With Kavanagh hopefully back next year, along with the likes of Comerford who is developing all the time and stalwarts like Dunphy, Purcell and King staying onboard it's going to be 2022 before we see the true potential of this Laois side.   

Avoiding relegation would be a massive achievement. It feels like 'normal service resumed'. But we shall see.

That's all well and good but the present is what it's all about. You can't keep talking about next year and you can be as sure as there's shit in a field that something else will be wrong next year.

[Giovanni]

I agree Zooming Around. Of course, given all the injuries, etc. it is possible to understand that it would be tough to win matches early in the year. The fact that we have lost is not my problem. My problem is the manner of our performances - the savage work rate and have-a-go attitude that we saw previously has dramatically tailed off. We lost plenty of games under Eddie Brennan too but we always had a proper go and there were performance floors that we never fell below no matter what injuries we had. Cheddar is a smart guy and there may be a strategy behind this but I would be extremely disappointed if we don't see a better performance against Wexford - win, lose or draw.

[G@@]

So, here we are on the saddleboard of yet another championship season - they really start coming thick and fast as you approach mid-life.

Laois v Wexford tomorrow evening at tea-time.

It has been a weird two years now and for hurling purists this years championship should be like free beer at a bar considering what has passed.

However, I'm baffled. The hurling championship is based on an "almost" knock-out basis, a thing of the 90s and the preceding decades, yet there is barely a mention of what the purists have always craved. Strange.

Anyways, the negatives have been highlighted on this thread about our prospects this year, so lets throw a little caution to the wind and think about how we might actually win this game despite our razor thin chances.

• Laois have scored goals against good sides in the league campaign - albeit not against our next opponents Wexford or the next in line Kilkenny.
  
  We have posted on average 18pts per game - with a ton of wides too, so we have room for improvement in accuracy.
  
  Wexford fell away as the league went on whereas Laois actually improved.
  
  Davey getting banned to the stands in the Antrim game earned him a two-match ban which means he's off side-line duty tomorrow evening.

Will any of the above mean for much tomorrow evening, probably not, but hey - lets try be somewhat positive! 

[Giovanni]

It's a good team picked for this evening.

If they work like dogs, really go for it and are a bit smarter with the shooting, they shouldn't be far away. Good luck to them.

[portlaoisekid]

Jesus, that was awful ..I was hopeful we could show something tonight to suggest positivity with regards the relegation play offs that are ahead but by God that was awful ..

[G@@]

That was hard to watch. Very hard.

Awful amount of wides, two goal chances fluffed too.

We've really regressed.

[The Rover]

Laois hurlers are better than that display Today.
the tacti's were way off 14 players in midfield and defense for most of the first half, how could we be competitive when we had no outball.
management have to take a lot of the blame for this display.
it would have been a shock if  laois were to win but no shock if we were competitive, I have to say we cannot blame the hurlers for this embarrassing display.

[Giovanni]

I can't understand how anyone could imagine that conceding  possession until the opposition gets to their own 65 could possibly be a winning strategy. And on the other hand, our full back line has been conceding needless turnovers since the season started. I just don't get it at all. It just can't work in hurling.