Messages

I suspect Clubbers days are numbered if they can't deal with pubs showing matches. It's a great service but it is getting abused which will force counties to pull back.

I like Willie's interviews. The theme last year after the final was volunteerism. They don't do back room teams, just have volunteers. He couldn't go there this year as CB have the largest back room team from what I can see and added a volunteer coach from Tipp at the start of the year. So this year he went after the Board. He made some valid points to be fair though especially in relation to fixtures. I like the alternate weeks hurling/football but clubs that are competing in the knockout rounds at Senior and Premier Intermediate simultaneously often play Saturday/Sunday with huge overlaps between the squads. It causes issues for these clubs especially when they go deep in the championship.
In one way he can be thankful of the same incompetent Board as if they had followed through Ballacolla could have been down 3 or 4 for their semi final and would not have made the final. They deserve huge credit for the turnaround though. I attended most matches and they were 4th or 5th best of the teams during the group and they are sitting on Top now again. Doing it when it matters most has to be admired.

A player can't play a lower grade once he has played senior so that argument doesn't hold.

If the user clicks on any of the results from the SHC, it will lead to the tables. It's a bit clunky but it works.

Those responsible for pushing the 10 team championship should hang their heads.
The County Board tried to be clever at the time as well with the proposals that actually went to county committee and that backfired.

8 teams.
Open draw format.
Winners side & Losers side.
Draw after every round.

What we have now is an underage development blitz format.

It is an horrendous decision.
No basis for thinking that we have more than 8 Senior teams.

It didn't stop Portlaoise & Abbeyleix building back up following relegation.

It will promote mediocrity all round. 3-4 clubs every year knowing that all they have to do is beat X or Y to avoid relegation.
This has a direct impact on training levels and quality.
Which has a direct impact on the quality of play.
Which has a direct impact on the standard of hurling in the county.

The idea of "exposing more players to senior is a myth".
We are exposing them to mediocrity.

Agree with the points above. It appeared at the time that some Football only clubs who had no direct interest in hurling were actively canvassed which contributed to the decision to go to 10. Rather than 10, we should be looking at 6 teams. Some people will justify 10 teams based on yesterday's result but the reality is that if Mossy Keyes and Mark Dowling were there yesterday, it would be hard to see Portlaoise getting back into the game. The next few weeks will be interesting as I expect some heavy beatings to be dished out. 

I know in Kilkenny there gone back to 18. If it's your last year of 18 you are able to play senior hurling for your club.a young lad that played for Thomastown this year in the country final also played minor in the same year.that could be the way to do it. Also it must be harder for clubs to get challenge games outside the county because the amount of county's that are gone back

The problem is that it is almost impossible to run minor competitions unless
Is that actually better than the current set-up we have?
I'd like to have minor back to 18 for romantic reasons but I think the simplicity of having separate minor and adult fixtures is helpful.

I know in Kilkenny there gone back to 18. If it's your last year of 18 you are able to play senior hurling for your club.a young lad that played for Thomastown this year in the country final also played minor in the same year.that could be the way to do it. Also it must be harder for clubs to get challenge games outside the county because the amount of county's that are gone back

Is that actually better than the current set-up we have?
I'd like to have minor back to 18 for romantic reasons but I think the simplicity of having separate minor and adult fixtures is helpful.

The problem is that in a dual county like Laois it would be almost impossible to run minor competitions unless it is fully decoupled from Adult. Clubs will want the lads up to the age to play every grade from Junior C upwards. The Offaly vote to go back to under 18 was won by 1 and there was strong opposition from smaller clubs. Personally, I'm in favour of under 18 but we can't have it both ways.

There's a good interview on off the ball on how Tyrone develops it's underage they don't do trails they have lads at every underage game coming back with information on how lads are developing.Also bring back 12/16/18 grade see lads playing senior now and another year of minor would really benefit them as player. I think that is going to happen but when who knows.probably when one of the lads on the country boards club have a good team we will go back to the old grade .i think there's over 20 county's gone back to the old grade

A lot of counties have gone back to Under 18 including Offaly. However the difference from years ago is that u18 can't play adult as is the case in Offaly.

Div 1 B/K
Div 2 The Harps
Div 3 Ballinakill
Div 4 Clonad
Div 5 The Harps
Div 6 B/K

The vote last year if I recall correctly was tight decided principally by a few football only clubs who were probably lobbied by one or two hurling clubs who were actively pushing it. Usually football clubs would abstain if they had no skin in the game. That's democracy. It's done and dusted for the next few years but it doesn't mean it was the right decision. Funny enough, I think it will level out the Premier Intermediate division but could well lead to the likes of Camross and Rathdownwy/Errill winning it. I expect B/K to win Premier Intermediate but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that a second team could get to the final.     

It is an horrendous decision.
No basis for thinking that we have more than 8 Senior teams.

It didn't stop Portlaoise & Abbeyleix building back up following relegation.

It will promote mediocrity all round. 3-4 clubs every year knowing that all they have to do is beat X or Y to avoid relegation.
This has a direct impact on training levels and quality.
Which has a direct impact on the quality of play.
Which has a direct impact on the standard of hurling in the county.

The idea of "exposing more players to senior is a myth".
We are exposing them to mediocrity.

Have to agree. Rosenallis and Castletown are effectively finished for the year after two games with no fear of relegation. It will be interesting to see how they perform in Round 3. For 2025, they will be hoping some cannon fodder get promoted along with B/K.   

Don't agree with Laoistoday on lots of things but overall they do a decent job. I fear what it would be like without them as the dearth of coverage in the traditional media is a concern. A lot of inaccuracies stem from the clubs such as players wearing the wrong numbers which is a frequent issue at club games. I think it is a bit rich blaming Laoistoday for not calling out the County board considering we have over 40 clubs who fail to do so every year at convention.

Considering the various subscriptions, I reckon the €6.99 spent on Loaistoday is probably one of my better ones.     

The vote was tight but I take it some of the lower tier clubs must have voted for it. The likes of Colt/Shanahoe Rathdowney Errill and Borris/K all have 3 votes due to having nominal Gaelic football clubs which might be a factor. There is talk in Laois Today about cross over games to avoid byes. From watching the championship last summer we should have 6 rather than 10. Idiotic is the only word to describe the decision.     

Offaly have 10 teams with Kilcormac/Killoughy 2nd team winning the Senior B. The same is likely to happen in Laois with 10 teams and definitely 12. Camross and Rathdowney/Errill are well capable of winning a weaker 2nd tier. A handful of clubs are pushing 10 teams to give them a safety net.   

10 team format will dilute the championship as the pressure will be off the mid division clubs if the likes of Ballyfin are playing senior. There is nothing wrong with the current format apart from clubs fearing relegation which should be a good thing. 

Clonaslee going to Na Fianna doesn't make sense considering their players are passing through Rosenallis. Mountmellick have traditionally accommodated players players from Clonaslee because Rosenallis and Clonaslee can't work things out. Ballyfin's big problem is that a lot of their better players put rugby first.

I think Abbeyleix also.
They are the makings of a fine side. Likely to be knocking around the last 4 for the foreseeable.
The other game will certainly be double figures.
Could well be 25+

Castletown, like The Harps & Borris Kilcotton (and possibly even Rosenallis) have not been good.
Those teams need to the pressure of an 8 team championship to improve or go down.
Those who remember the championships of the 1990s into the early 2000s, the likes of Clonad and Errill were very poor but surviving because there was 10 or 12 teams.
It did nothing to improve the standard or competitive nature.

8 teams is what we have. Max.

Have to agree. 10 team competition will only make it easier for the bottom 4 clubs to survive. The relegation final for the last number of years has been more competitive than most matches.