NFL Division 3 Fixtures
Round 1: Limerick (home) – Saturday, January 24
Round 2: Wexford (away) – Saturday, January 31
Round 3: Sligo (home) – Saturday, February 14
Round 4: Clare (away) – Sunday, February 22
Round 5: Westmeath (home) – Saturday, February 28
Round 6: Fermanagh (away) – Saturday, March 14
Round 7: Down (away) – Sunday, March 22
Any word on new lads that are in training this year and any lads that aren't with the panel anymore?
Mark Barry and Seamus Lacey going or gone travelling. Won't be around.
Paul Kingston back. Mohan and Galvin in from Portarlington.
We might struggle looking at that fixture list. Two tough away games to finish. If Barry is gone it really impacts on our attacking threats. Any word on when O'Carroll is back form injury.
Quote from: Laois Rising on December 01, 2025, 10:49:16 AMWe might struggle looking at that fixture list. Two tough away games to finish. If Barry is gone it really impacts on our attacking threats. Any word on when O'Carroll is back form injury.
O' Carroll is back in training anyway so should be good for the league. Looking at the fixtures we definitely need to start off with two wins from two.
I've heard Shaun Fitzpatrick and Sean Greene are back from injury. 4 or 5 Port lads will be joining now that their campaign is over. A few from Courtwood too but not O'Flynn.
O'Flynn looked like he was finally fulfilling the promise he showed as an underage player in this year's club championship. Real pity he is not in with county. Has all the attributes to be a good inter county player. Great to hear O'Carroll is back in training. Definitely need to hit the ground running at beginning of the league. Three winnable games at the beginning need to be targeted. You do not need to be chasing a victory heading to Down in the final game to ensure safety. Get our business done early and see if we can be in the shake up for a promotion spot by the end of the league.
Quote from: SCFC on November 30, 2025, 11:59:35 PMMark Barry and Seamus Lacey going or gone travelling. Won't be around.
Paul Kingston back. Mohan and Galvin in from Portarlington.
wasn't mohan in before Don't think Galvin will make the first 15. pigott and colm murphy gone back down under i suppose .
Quote from: The PRO on December 01, 2025, 02:32:55 PMI've heard Shaun Fitzpatrick and Sean Greene are back from injury. 4 or 5 Port lads will be joining now that their campaign is over. A few from Courtwood too but not O'Flynn.
Don't believe Greene is with the panel, he wasn't in with them when he injured his knee either I don't think if memory serves me correctly.
Quote from: Karate kid on December 01, 2025, 04:15:50 PMQuote from: The PRO on December 01, 2025, 02:32:55 PMI've heard Shaun Fitzpatrick and Sean Greene are back from injury. 4 or 5 Port lads will be joining now that their campaign is over. A few from Courtwood too but not O'Flynn.
Don't believe Greene is with the panel, he wasn't in with them when he injured his knee either I don't think if memory serves me correctly.
Could be Sean O Neill you saw. I was in there a few nights and he's definitely in but I didn't see Sean Greene
Sean O'Neill is definitely in yes, talking to a man from Emo he said it was only Padraig Kirwan and Eoin Montague in with Laois at the moment.
I think we had a challenge match against Cavan tonight, was anyone at it and if so how did lads get on?
Looking at the division 3 fixtures, there are a lot of 50/50 games in my opinion.
Home advantage might get us over the line v Limerick, we have a good record against Wexford in recent years, we beat Sligo in the 2025 league, gave Clare a good contest in 2025 league, Westmeath will be tough but we're at home, can do much better than that game in Mullingar, we ran Fermanagh close enough in 2025 league, Down is probably the toughest game.
I believe we can have a good campaign. 2026 marks the centenary of the national football league,in which we were crowned champions.
Anyone know who from Portlaoise is in with Laois?
Quote from: Butch Cassidy on December 09, 2025, 09:08:40 PMAnyone know who from Portlaoise is in with Laois?
Kevin Swayne and Conor Brown definitely in anyway. Ben O Connor and Darren Brennan have both also taken part in challenge matches last week but are probably likely to spend most of their time with the 20s.
Haven't actually heard on the likes of Ben Dempsey, Benny Carroll or Damon Larkin as of yet.
Damon Larkin not involved according to LaoisToday.
Healthy representation in from the 2 County Finalists. 11/12 I believe .
Quote from: Karate kid on December 09, 2025, 09:23:54 PMQuote from: Butch Cassidy on December 09, 2025, 09:08:40 PMAnyone know who from Portlaoise is in with Laois?
Haven't actually heard on the likes of Ben Dempsey, Benny Carroll or Damon Larkin as of yet.
Doubt if Carroll will be involved. Has had a woeful time with injuries and I'd imagine club football will be as much as he can manage.
Larkin seems to have had a struggle regaining fitness since he got injured in the middle of last year.
Quote from: les Antiques on December 09, 2025, 09:31:00 PMDamon Larkin not involved according to LaoisToday.
Healthy representation in from the 2 County Finalists. 11/12 I believe .
Is good to see alright, I would question the quality of a few of those lads called in off the back of this year and I do think that 2 of Courtwoods top 3 lads in Sean O Flynn and Niall Dunne would've been the best additions you could've got, along with Matthew Byron who will definitely be in the conversation for the number 1 jersey in my opinion.
No O'Flynn or Dunne involved .
Quote from: les Antiques on December 09, 2025, 10:30:51 PMNo O'Flynn or Dunne involved .
I know that yeah, just saying it's a shame.
Quote from: Karate kid on December 09, 2025, 10:43:36 PMQuote from: les Antiques on December 09, 2025, 10:30:51 PMNo O'Flynn or Dunne involved .
I know that yeah, just saying it's a shame.
Yep absolutely. Both at there peak now also .
Plenty of talk here about who we will see in Laois jersey this year and one person I'm very hopeful to see again is someone who made a big impact a number of years ago. He brought excitement to the field and crowds came from near and far to see him.
So, will Jungle Joe be back? If so, will he be in Ratheniska on Saturday?
He was given a free pass anyways, while the actual Laois GAA die hards will probably get told off in OMP for walking on the grass etc
Team named for tomorrow;
Killian Roche (Killeshin); Conaire Gee (Ballyroan-Abbey), Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Ben O'Connor (Portlaoise); Jack Lacey (St Joseph's), Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise), Aaron McEvoy (Ballyroan-Abbey); Robert Tyrrell (Courtwood), Conor Heffernan (Killeshin); Killian Byrne (Ballyroan-Abbey), Cian Doyle (Courtwood), Josh Hogan (Portlaoise); Niall Corbet (Clonaslee St Manman's), Brian Byrne (Graiguecullen), Evan O'Carroll (Crettyard). Substitutes: Matthew Byron (Courtwood), Dan Boland (Courtwood), Mikie Dempsey (St Joseph's), Colin Dunne (Arles-Killeen), Darren Brennan (Portlaoise), Alan Kinsella (Courtwood), Cathal Lee (Clonaslee-St Manman's), Eoin Montague (Emo), Sean O'Neill (The Rock), Paddy O'Sullivan (Portarlington), Joey Shelly (Rosenallis).
Also see Dublin have a very unrecognisable team named for the game. Great to see Evan back and looking forward to seeing some of the new faces.
Hoping Dunne from Killeen gets some game time. Good finisher.
Also the Ballyroan Abbey and Courtwood lads starting. Worth looking at them.
Ben O'Connor is a bit of a surprise for me.
Did Jungle Joe tog out?
No, He was last seen on his World tour in Venezuela three days ago in a KFC with a Laois top in Caracas, apparently he is on his way to Colombia
Anyone at the match yesterday? We'll need to tighten up the middle, conceding goals our achilles heel the last fee years. Great to see Evan back, hopefully kicks on and has a hold run
Wasn't at it but watched on Clubber.
Great to see Evan back. Looked sharp.
Not too many other standout performers. Killian Byrne, Cian Doyle showed well. Ben O'Connor too. Bit sloppy at the back to concede 4 goals. Heffernan and Tyrrell decent enough in the middle. Dunne and O'Sullivan did well off the bench.
We really do lack a bit of star quality in the team. Barry and O'Carroll probably our best two and don't have Barry this year. Despite the lack of top level talent, McNulty will get the most from the team and hopefully that will see us being competitive in division 3 and give the Tailteann Cup another good rattle this year. When you see the depth in Dublin football they could easily field a second team squad (players outside their main panel of 30 plus) and easily compete in Division 2 of the league.
Some crowd of Dubs down for the game!
Some of our new faces did well in patches. Lacking a bit of scoring power outside of Evan but very early to be judging lads! Would be great to see maybe Fingleton and Shaun Fitzpatrick back along with a few Port lads.
The list of absentees is killing us. Lacey, Barry, O'Flynn, Larkin etc.
What's the story with Eoin Lowry? Travelling I presume?
Does anyone know if Zack Tuohy is in Laois or gone back to Oz?
He always spoke about coming home when he finished over there to play with Portlaoise again and maybe even play with Laois.
Kind of a second string team played down in Carlow today.
Most of team that played Dublin were held back for a challenge game v Cavan tonight.
A few highlights from Carlow game. Big midfielder Burke did well. Young lads Slattery and Nolan were very impressive. Kinsella with two goals did well. Mohan is a good corner back. Sub Darcy did well before losing the rag a bit!
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on January 09, 2026, 11:26:34 PMDoes anyone know if Zack Tuohy is in Laois or gone back to Oz?
He always spoke about coming home when he finished over there to play with Portlaoise again and maybe even play with Laois.
sure he must be hitting the 40 mark soon he wouldn't last the pace for inter county what ever about club level with portlaoise.
Laois 1st team lost to Cavan by a point in O'Moore Park
Have you the team that started Unlaoised?
Will Larkin be back?
I have 13 of the starting 15 against Cavan just can't remember one. Roche was in goal, full back line was Ben dempsey, Trevor Collins and Jack Lacey. Kevin Swayne and Paddy OS were part of the half back line, the other person escapes me. Midfield of Rob Tyrell and Conor Heffernan. Cian Doyle and Ronan Coffey were in the half forward line and Rioghan Murphy, Evan O Carroll and Colin Dunne started inside.
Brian Byrne was 6 and Galvin from Port was the other inside forward
Any word on a cut to the panel? Who's in or out?
Our senior management team are going on their third year, and still haven't sorted out our leaky defence, we are not winning man to man duels, holding shape, and not tracking runners.Teams were putting up big scores against us last season, IT'S time McNulty brought in some coach who specialises in defending to show our players how to defend as a team. IF NOT. we will be back down in div.4 AGAIN.
Quote from: Sideline12 on January 16, 2026, 09:11:09 PMOur senior management team are going on their third year, and still haven't sorted out our leaky defence, we are not winning man to man duels, holding shape, and not tracking runners.Teams were putting up big scores against us last season, IT'S time McNulty brought in some coach who specialises in defending to show our players how to defend as a team. IF NOT. we will be back down in div.4 AGAIN.
What did we concede to Cavan ?
Quote from: les Antiques on January 17, 2026, 04:17:06 PMQuote from: Sideline12 on January 16, 2026, 09:11:09 PMOur senior management team are going on their third year, and still haven't sorted out our leaky defence, we are not winning man to man duels, holding shape, and not tracking runners.Teams were putting up big scores against us last season, IT'S time McNulty brought in some coach who specialises in defending to show our players how to defend as a team. IF NOT. we will be back down in div.4 AGAIN.
What did we concede to Cavan ?
2-15 was what I heard.
And scored 0-20. Lost by one?
Played Meath away today. Heard nothing about it.
Lost to Meath by 20 points.
Oh no, a beating like that is not good for moral..
Jan 24: Limerick, Portlaoise
Jan 31: Wexford, Wexford
Feb 14: Sligo, Portlaoise
Feb 22: Clare, Ennis
Feb 28: Westmeath, Portlaoise
Mar 14: Fermanagh, Enniskillen
Mar 22: Down, Newry
Tough campaign ahead . Maintaining Division 3 status will be the hope and aim. Don't win tonight and that task becomes very difficult.
Drawing a home game to Limerick is not the start we needed.
It does make the job a lot more difficult.
The best we can hope for is to stay up in Div 3. We wouldn't be good enough for Div 2 anyhow.
Well, it's stating the obvious but would have been great to win Saturday evening rather than that draw but I also feel that Limerick are pretty decent and will pick up plenty of points. Might be a point gained rather than a point lost?
Hard to pick out great Laois performances the other night. Both midfielders did well, Paddy O'Sullivan is always good and Swayne did OK too.
Not wonderful in attack. Evan well marshalled and we missed an awful lot of decent chances.
Nice to see Mark Timmons a great servant for Laois on the sidline now,
Not a nice evening for football last Saturday, the backs done OK still a bit shaky, midfielder put in a good shift, forwards need to improve a lot, won't win many games scoring only 1.10 and no two pointers, saw Matthew Byron playing for Courtwood in senior championship last season scoring lots of two pointers from dead balls all over the pitch should he be given a go ?
Couldn't make the match today. Scoreline surely says it all. That's a roaring disgrace. Anyone there to give an honest synopsis?
Just seen the scoreline, bloody hell that is not good. Wexford backed up their good win away to Fermanagh by taking us to the cleaners. The Sligo game is a must win now.
What a embarrassment County Board and clubs should hang their heads in shame years of neglect of underage players in clubs and schools and this is the result clubs that would not win a match in junior championship in most counties masquerade as senior clubs in Laois and huge money spent on outside managers to hold there status and all the while youngsters left to fend for themselves with usually a parent with his own lad on team taking the training session cannot see this changing anyway soon
This sums up laois for the past 5 years and for most of the past 140 years. A half decent performance one week. Followers get some bit of hope. Followed by a sledge hammer the following week. I just don't know anymore.
How can we be so poor?
Well, we have had poor underage teams for 15 years. Also we must have the lowest Sigerson Cup representation in the country.
We haven't hit the bottom yet.
really poor result and puts huge pressure on us going into next weeks game. even before the results from the other games today that game is now a must win. The division will have a lot of strange results, down fell over the line in Limerick with a few late scores which probably wasn't predicted. At the start of the league i thought 5 maybe six points would help us avoid relegation but with the bad start against the two newly promoted teams that both now in hindsight targeted us we have to win both home games at the very least. while i am hoping we can get over Sligo, the Westmeath game will be far more difficult. win both of them and we have a great chance of survival, if we don't we need a very big result away to Clare, down or Fermanagh. Again Fermanagh might be the vital away game but only if we win the next home game. The two outstanding games today probably will see us further down the table, probably second from bottom if Fermanagh lose because of our -14 scoring difference already.
One thing is for sure unless we up our current scoring rate we won't achieve this and will definitely go down. 1-10 and 0-9 in the first few games is extremely poor considering since the new rules have come in the scoring rates for nearly all the teams have risen. the starting forwards scored 1-2 from play against limerick and a sub forward 0-1 and last night we were slightly better with 0-5 from the starting forwards and 0-2 from forward subs but again this is nowhere near good enough. with Damon Larkin's absence the current two midfielders are not known to be big scorers to help with this. it is also noticeable that we have not scored any two pointers in either game. A lot for the management to work on.
Whatever chance we have/had of staying up, we need all our best players involved. We're already on the back foot because so many aren't in there. Aside from that, we're in a right mess. But look, let's play musical chairs at the next CB meeting. That should fix it. No other county would tolerate this BS
Saturday's result was so bad one doesn't even have the usual gloom after a loss.
Laois were awful - some turnaround from the championship win over Wexford last year.
I'd expect a vastly improved performance against Sligo the next day - they have to restore some pride.
We can't afford to be without key players but it's quite understandable that young lads will want to travel.
A small glimmer of hope for the future is seeing Sean Dempsey taking a role with the minors.
Proportionately speaking, we have more than our fair share of travellers. I wouldn't begrudge anyone that, but the GAA in Laois is no incentive to stay. We have a rotten culture that facilitates a lack of interest beyond a certain age, and we are left to work with whoever fancies it this year and every year.
A mountain of work needs to be done and we don't have the people in the CB to do it. If they cared about the County they would step aside, but even if they did, those replacing them wouldn't know where to start. We needed change a long, long time ago, and instead we have meandered into 14 point drubbings to Wexford. Heartbreaking
It's becoming fairly common 14 point loss to Wexford last year 16 point loss to westmeath year before hammered by the mighty Wicklow 3 teams that have zero chance of winning Leinster we are probably 11best team in Leinster at the moment glad Kilkenny don't play football not a murmer from County Board all move on nothing to see here
with the full two rounds played now after yesterday we now find ourselves in third from bottom with 1 point with a -14 points difference. The -14 total is the joint second worse difference in the divisions with Monaghan in Division 1 with -18 below. Our major problem is that we are a very low scoring team currently, 22 points after two rounds with only Longford and Waterford in Division 4 lower. Sligo's win at the weekend will give them a boost for the next day but they probably will be more satisfied with getting 1-19 against Fermanagh. while I hope we would get a result against Sligo to ease relegation wonders if we don't we are heading into our harder fixtures away to Clare, Down and Fermanagh and home to Westmeath in serious bother. Clare might be positioned below us in the league with zero points but they have probably played their two hardest matches first against Down and Westmeath and still managed to score 40 points over the two games. the big hope when the fixtures were first released that we would have four points after the opening games and possibly 6 after Sligo and then tackle the next games with a push for promotion but as we have seen things didn't go that way.
Quote from: Blueforever on February 02, 2026, 10:21:03 AMIt's becoming fairly common 14 point loss to Wexford last year 16 point loss to westmeath year before hammered by the mighty Wicklow 3 teams that have zero chance of winning Leinster we are probably 11best team in Leinster at the moment glad Kilkenny don't play football not a murmer from County Board all move on nothing to see here
When did we lose to Wexford last year. Could have sworn we hammered them in Wexford park and then push Louth close. 🤔
Maybe saint 88 i missed a comma and then it would have read losing to Westmeath typical idiot on this forum nit picking on the written English instead on focusing on the state of Football and Hurling in the county god give me patience
Quote from: Blueforever on February 02, 2026, 06:31:56 PMMaybe saint 88 i missed a comma and then it would have read losing to Westmeath typical idiot on this forum nit picking on the written English instead on focusing on the state of Football and Hurling in the county god give me patience
Could have beaten Louth last year, in the Tailteann cup final the year before and you put us as 11th in Leinster.
Everyone knows how poor Laois football is and has been for quite a while. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. What are the solutions?
- Better use of our population
- More coaching in schools
- Coach education in clubs
- Fresh faces at County board level
Quote from: on the hop on February 02, 2026, 04:53:21 PMwith the full two rounds played now after yesterday we now find ourselves in third from bottom with 1 point with a -14 points difference. The -14 total is the joint second worse difference in the divisions with Monaghan in Division 1 with -18 below. Our major problem is that we are a very low scoring team currently, 22 points after two rounds with only Longford and Waterford in Division 4 lower. Sligo's win at the weekend will give them a boost for the next day but they probably will be more satisfied with getting 1-19 against Fermanagh. while I hope we would get a result against Sligo to ease relegation wonders if we don't we are heading into our harder fixtures away to Clare, Down and Fermanagh and home to Westmeath in serious bother. Clare might be positioned below us in the league with zero points but they have probably played their two hardest matches first against Down and Westmeath and still managed to score 40 points over the two games. the big hope when the fixtures were first released that we would have four points after the opening games and possibly 6 after Sligo and then tackle the next games with a push for promotion but as we have seen things didn't go that way.
I never had you down as a Make Believer. Look at the evidence in front of you. Our own Championship. The players we're producing. The apathy.
It's a total mess and it's rotten. It has been this way for many years, and shows zero signs of changing. We get a report every year basically telling us we have all the problems in the world, it goes up on the shelf, and then nothing until next year. The people of Laois want nothing to do with it. The empty stands tell you everything
Something is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
The small crowds at Laois games over the past few years is clear evidence of the apathy among supporters.
One just has to look at Cavan and Roscommon, counties with similar populations, to see that supporters will get behind their team when they see their county making the best of their resources.
Hopefully the negativity that's around at the moment does not spread to the current panel and they avoid relegation.
A huge effort is needed at underage level - it has been proven in the past that success is achievable.
I'm not close to the club scene (living in Dublin) but I understand the number of senior teams will be reduced.
Quote from: High Fielder on February 01, 2026, 02:19:40 PMWhatever chance we have/had of staying up, we need all our best players involved. We're already on the back foot because so many aren't in there. Aside from that, we're in a right mess. But look, let's play musical chairs at the next CB meeting. That should fix it. No other county would tolerate this BS
who are all theses best players port have 5 or 6 in courtwood county runners up have a good few in.
Just putting this out there for discussion Again.
I genuinely believe that across all clubs in Laois, we need to start identifying tall, fast underage players as early as possible- particularly at under U13 and U15 level - and bringing them into the county development squads.
Obviously skill is crucial, but if we're serious about competing at Minor, U20, and ultimately Senior levels in the years ahead, we need to be developing physically strong,quick players from a young age. That kind of raw athleticism when paired with the right coaching and game intelligence, can give Laois football the edge we've been lacking at the highest level.
Every year we see top Counties feeling powerful, mobile athletes who also have great football brains. We should be building our future around the same model- players who can cover ground, win primary possession, and transition quickly.
Would be interested to hear what others think. Are we doing enough at developement squad level to build for this kind of future?
In response to Sideline12 opening point of debate-
Dr Brian Cuthbert at the Munster GAA Club Forum 2025 on getting the balance right between competition and player development-
He couldn't state more clearly the importance of placing emphasis on school-based training (which is non existent in a lot of secondary schools in Laois or tokenistic in how it is done).
This is where players are with friends in less pressurised settings and have increased contact time with coaches (as recommended by Cuthbert). To underline this point, he highlighted that the five Kerry minor teams of 2014-2018 had key players from four Hogan Cup wins, namely Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne (Éamonn Fitzmaurice's school, in 2014 and 2015) and St. Brendan's College Killarney (2016 and 2017).
Most of the schools in Kerry put huge efforts into their GAA coaching and you can clearly see the benefits this brings at inter-county level then as well. Young lads are getting a fantastic grounding in GAA during their developmental years. Many of our schools put a slap dash approach into it fielding teams in B, C, and D competitions without any proper preparation and then unsurprisingly hockeyed against any half decent school side. Putting the correct structures in place at this pivotal stage of development will go a long long way. Kildare schools thriving at the moment and you can see the projected upward trajectory of Kildare football over the next couple of years.
Louth GAA has been actively driving school development through structured coaching programmes, school-club links, and regional academies aimed at increasing participation and standards. They must be into year 6 of this drive and you can clearly see it is already bearing fruit with Louth reaching an u20 All-Ireland Final last year as well as being pipped by Offaly in a cracking minor final.
Again, the common theme to the success within each of these counties-strongly focused and promoted schools programmes.
Outside of Knockbeg what Laois schools are competitive and providing top-level coaching and support to their teams. I would even suggest that while competitive, Knockbeg could be achieving more considering the players that have gone through the school in the last decade. Again-better support and input from Laois GAA might make all the difference here.
The small percentages all add up. Louth GAA targeted schools at primary and secondary where GAA was not existence or had little impact. They focused on targeting these schools, providing sustained coaching and then creating meaningful connections between the local clubs and these schools. Small but effective steps.
Laois Rising - you're on the ball.
Good article in Irish Independent today about Saturday's all-Westmeath schools final.
Both Roscommon and Westmeath benefit from the players coming through these schools and also St. Brigids, Roscommon.
Portarlington CBS (1984) and Knockbeg (2005) were the only Laois winners in the past 50 years and both these schools would have had sizeable Offaly and Carlow contingents.
Given the Portlaoise club's illustrious history it's a shame that the town were never at the top table in schools GAA.
The recent success of Nass CBS (5 Leinster titles and 1 All-Ireland title since 2018) shows what can be achieved.
Reading a lot of these posts nearly everyone is broadly in agreement where the problem lies the next question is what does people see as the solution because carry on as we are is not a option
Quote from: Blueforever on February 05, 2026, 02:13:24 PMReading a lot of these posts nearly everyone is broadly in agreement where the problem lies the next question is what does people see as the solution because carry on as we are is not a option
Laois Gaels is a Laois GAA Supporters club
Laois Gaels Website (https://www.laoisgaels.com/)
Laois Gaels Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/laoisgaels/)
Google(AI) tells me that it has or had 500+ members.
I'm wondering if any of the Laois posters on this forum are members - I'm thinking of joining.
One would hope that such an organisation would be concerned with how our county teams, particularly in football, have fallen so far behind the likes of Louth and Westmeath - counties that we more than held our own with down the years.
If Laois Gaels is fairly active I would hope that they would have considerable influence on the County Board.
Quote from: oneshot on February 03, 2026, 07:35:07 PMQuote from: High Fielder on February 01, 2026, 02:19:40 PMWhatever chance we have/had of staying up, we need all our best players involved. We're already on the back foot because so many aren't in there. Aside from that, we're in a right mess. But look, let's play musical chairs at the next CB meeting. That should fix it. No other county would tolerate this BS
who are all theses best players port have 5 or 6 in courtwood county runners up have a good few in.
Mark Barry
Seamus Lacey
Padraig Kirwan
Niall Dunne
Sean O'Flynn
Damon Larkin
Shaun Fitzpatrick
James Kelly
That's just eight excellent players not involved for whatever reasons. Injuries, travel, work.
Piggott and Murphy from Port another too. Turnover a big issue for divisions 3 and 4 sadly
Quote from: Butch Cassidy on February 05, 2026, 09:37:56 PMPiggott and Murphy from Port another too. Turnover a big issue for divisions 3 and 4 sadly
Player turnover is a massive issue. Leitrim are even worse hit than we are. Longford too.
To get into the top half of the teams in the country (Division 2 and Sam Maguire), we'd need every single player committed to the squad. Just never happens.
I was surprised a poster asked about missing players. That sort of turnover is crazy. I couldn't guarantee they would improve our fortunes, but we can't keep operating a revolving door and expect improvement. There's nothing there for these lads. It's a depressing state of affairs and the CB are lucky there is zero interest anymore in what goes on inside the gates of OMP. There is no way this situation would be tolerated in any serious footballing or hurling county. We're a laughing stock
Quote from: Laois Rising on February 03, 2026, 10:08:41 AMSomething is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
Tell us you know nothing about underage football in the county without telling us you know nothing about underage football in the county
Crettyard won the minor A in 2025 with the vast majority of the squad u16,they have 5/6 lads up to the age this year well entitled to be on a minor panel
Joseph's won the u15A in 2023 but through a mixture of factors didn't raise a gallop in the 2025 minor
They are struggling for numbers and if you look at their grading particularly at u13 last year, you would have know that
Portlaoise lost the minor by a point in 2025 and the issues facing the town are well documented
It's just as well you aren't in Kerry the Clifford's wouldn't get a look in because they aren't from a "traditional stronghold"
Quote from: The Boy Wonder on February 05, 2026, 04:33:54 PMQuote from: Blueforever on February 05, 2026, 02:13:24 PMReading a lot of these posts nearly everyone is broadly in agreement where the problem lies the next question is what does people see as the solution because carry on as we are is not a option
Laois Gaels is a Laois GAA Supporters club
Laois Gaels Website (https://www.laoisgaels.com/)
Laois Gaels Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/laoisgaels/)
Google(AI) tells me that it has or had 500+ members.
I'm wondering if any of the Laois posters on this forum are members - I'm thinking of joining.
One would hope that such an organisation would be concerned with how our county teams, particularly in football, have fallen so far behind the likes of Louth and Westmeath - counties that we more than held our own with down the years.
If Laois Gaels is fairly active I would hope that they would have considerable influence on the County Board.
Grant me patience
If you looked at the laois Gaels website
You'd see what it's stated aims are
Spoiler alert :it doesn't have considerable influence on the county board
If you want to make a change
Be your club delegate in 2027 and drive change from within
Give over with the drive change from within line. It's a closed shop and always has been. It's sickening. They have presided over the worst period in Laois GAA and still they hold on. The County needs leaders and fresh ideas; not sheep
Quote from: Podge72 on February 07, 2026, 05:31:04 PMQuote from: Laois Rising on February 03, 2026, 10:08:41 AMSomething is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
Tell us you know nothing about underage football in the county without telling us you know nothing about underage football in the county
Crettyard won the minor A in 2025 with the vast majority of the squad u16,they have 5/6 lads up to the age this year well entitled to be on a minor panel
Joseph's won the u15A in 2023 but through a mixture of factors didn't raise a gallop in the 2025 minor
They are struggling for numbers and if you look at their grading particularly at u13 last year, you would have know that
Portlaoise lost the minor by a point in 2025 and the issues facing the town are well documented
It's just as well you aren't in Kerry the Clifford's wouldn't get a look in because they aren't from a "traditional stronghold"
Tell us someone who reads a post but doesn't read a post properly-
I am not one bit knocking Crettyard's achievements. I was at the final and well aware of the talents of the Brennan lads etc. in the club that are coming through. I was thrilled to see a club like Crettyard winning the title along with the best of Spink and Killeshin thrown into the mix.
You actually confirmed the point I was making. Joseph's is a big area and have much bigger numbers to Crettyard, the same is true of Stradbally and Portlaoise. If these clubs were consistently producing strong underage teams-and not ad hoc- their representation should be stronger on e.g. a minor panel. The point I was simply making is that our bigger clubs are not producing strong underage teams on a regular basis. If the stronger club teams are not producing strong underage teams this will impact on your intercounty underage teams as well. What is happening in Joseph's that they are not able to maximise their numbers or what alternative approaches are they taken to rectify this situation?
Where did I say because you are from a smaller club that you cannot be selected on a county minor team. My point is that this county minor team looks to be following a similar pattern to that of the last few years. We are lacking a strength in depth in our pool of players. In 2025 we lost all three group games in Leinster and ended up losing to Wicklow in the bottom tier All-Ireland competition, 2024 finished bottom at the group stage of Leinster competition and ended up in tier 3 of All-Ireland series as well. 2023 finished second bottom in our group after very bad beatings to Kildare and Offaly.
There is a trend starting to emerge. Our club scene has been weak for a good few years and the impact of this in evident.
Quote from: Laois Rising on February 09, 2026, 03:18:44 PMQuote from: Podge72 on February 07, 2026, 05:31:04 PMQuote from: Laois Rising on February 03, 2026, 10:08:41 AMSomething is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
Tell us you know nothing about underage football in the county without telling us you know nothing about underage football in the county
Crettyard won the minor A in 2025 with the vast majority of the squad u16,they have 5/6 lads up to the age this year well entitled to be on a minor panel
Joseph's won the u15A in 2023 but through a mixture of factors didn't raise a gallop in the 2025 minor
They are struggling for numbers and if you look at their grading particularly at u13 last year, you would have know that
Portlaoise lost the minor by a point in 2025 and the issues facing the town are well documented
It's just as well you aren't in Kerry the Clifford's wouldn't get a look in because they aren't from a "traditional stronghold"
Tell us someone who reads a post but doesn't read a post properly-
I am not one bit knocking Crettyard's achievements. I was at the final and well aware of the talents of the Brennan lads etc. in the club that are coming through. I was thrilled to see a club like Crettyard winning the title along with the best of Spink and Killeshin thrown into the mix.
You actually confirmed the point I was making. Joseph's is a big area and have much bigger numbers to Crettyard, the same is true of Stradbally and Portlaoise. If these clubs were consistently producing strong underage teams-and not ad hoc- their representation should be stronger on e.g. a minor panel. The point I was simply making is that our bigger clubs are not producing strong underage teams on a regular basis. If the stronger club teams are not producing strong underage teams this will impact on your intercounty underage teams as well. What is happening in Joseph's that they are not able to maximise their numbers or what alternative approaches are they taken to rectify this situation?
Where did I say because you are from a smaller club that you cannot be selected on a county minor team. My point is that this county minor team looks to be following a similar pattern to that of the last few years. We are lacking a strength in depth in our pool of players. In 2025 we lost all three group games in Leinster and ended up losing to Wicklow in the bottom tier All-Ireland competition, 2024 finished bottom at the group stage of Leinster competition and ended up in tier 3 of All-Ireland series as well. 2023 finished second bottom in our group after very bad beatings to Kildare and Offaly.
There is a trend starting to emerge. Our club scene has been weak for a good few years and the impact of this in evident.
Turn up for the minor final which is on before the senior and then claim to know all about underage in the county
It shouldn't matter a shite whether you are from a so called traditional stronghold in the county or not
That type of antiquated thinking went out in every other county surrounding us with the dodo
A laois team made up of the traditional strongholds would do much better than any current laois team at any level ?
Laughable if you think that's the case
Ger Brennan did a trawl recently of 240 Dublin players across all the levels to see if he could unearth 4/5 prospects
And this is a county with infinitely more resources and a huge player base than what's here
The player base at development level needs to be broadened not narrowed
The other issue is across the board
The number who won't commit
And the desperate state of the schools in both codes
Massive game v Sligo on Saturday evening. Still 10 points to play for so hopefully we can win. We beat them last year in O'Moore Park.
Looking back on the first 2 rounds - we should have won against Limerick but squandered a few goal chances. Daragh Galvin was very lively that evening and did well against Wexford also.
Limerick gave Down a good run for their money in round 2 so we can take encouragement from that.
While Wexford thoroughly deserved their win, it was an off day for us. Rioghan Murphy did very well for us as did Kevin Swayne. I wonder if Swayne can be moved forward a bit and maybe bring in Alex Mohan to defence.
We need to be more clinical upfront and start delivering a few 2 pointers. Hopefully Evan O'Carroll will be fit to start, he has been decent on his return this year as has Paul Kingston.
Wexford were very impressive on the evening. Hopefully we can respond well on Saturday and put in a strong performance.
Quote from: Podge72 on February 09, 2026, 10:16:11 PMQuote from: Laois Rising on February 09, 2026, 03:18:44 PMQuote from: Podge72 on February 07, 2026, 05:31:04 PMQuote from: Laois Rising on February 03, 2026, 10:08:41 AMSomething is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
Tell us you know nothing about underage football in the county without telling us you know nothing about underage football in the county
Crettyard won the minor A in 2025 with the vast majority of the squad u16,they have 5/6 lads up to the age this year well entitled to be on a minor panel
Joseph's won the u15A in 2023 but through a mixture of factors didn't raise a gallop in the 2025 minor
They are struggling for numbers and if you look at their grading particularly at u13 last year, you would have know that
Portlaoise lost the minor by a point in 2025 and the issues facing the town are well documented
It's just as well you aren't in Kerry the Clifford's wouldn't get a look in because they aren't from a "traditional stronghold"
Tell us someone who reads a post but doesn't read a post properly-
I am not one bit knocking Crettyard's achievements. I was at the final and well aware of the talents of the Brennan lads etc. in the club that are coming through. I was thrilled to see a club like Crettyard winning the title along with the best of Spink and Killeshin thrown into the mix.
You actually confirmed the point I was making. Joseph's is a big area and have much bigger numbers to Crettyard, the same is true of Stradbally and Portlaoise. If these clubs were consistently producing strong underage teams-and not ad hoc- their representation should be stronger on e.g. a minor panel. The point I was simply making is that our bigger clubs are not producing strong underage teams on a regular basis. If the stronger club teams are not producing strong underage teams this will impact on your intercounty underage teams as well. What is happening in Joseph's that they are not able to maximise their numbers or what alternative approaches are they taken to rectify this situation?
Where did I say because you are from a smaller club that you cannot be selected on a county minor team. My point is that this county minor team looks to be following a similar pattern to that of the last few years. We are lacking a strength in depth in our pool of players. In 2025 we lost all three group games in Leinster and ended up losing to Wicklow in the bottom tier All-Ireland competition, 2024 finished bottom at the group stage of Leinster competition and ended up in tier 3 of All-Ireland series as well. 2023 finished second bottom in our group after very bad beatings to Kildare and Offaly.
There is a trend starting to emerge. Our club scene has been weak for a good few years and the impact of this in evident.
Turn up for the minor final which is on before the senior and then claim to know all about underage in the county
It shouldn't matter a shite whether you are from a so called traditional stronghold in the county or not
That type of antiquated thinking went out in every other county surrounding us with the dodo
A laois team made up of the traditional strongholds would do much better than any current laois team at any level ?
Laughable if you think that's the case
Ger Brennan did a trawl recently of 240 Dublin players across all the levels to see if he could unearth 4/5 prospects
And this is a county with infinitely more resources and a huge player base than what's here
The player base at development level needs to be broadened not narrowed
The other issue is across the board
The number who won't commit
And the desperate state of the schools in both codes
It's not what I said. I'm not restricting who or what club is represented on Laois teams. It's about maximising our pool of players. If our bigger clubs are going well they are feeding in bigger numbers and more high quality players to the county teams. It's logical. If you strongest clubs are at their strongest and producing players it would make sense for them to be feeding a number of players into the intercounty setup. At present, they aren't. Therefore, our pool of players is reduced significantly and you are relying on more players from a spread of smaller clubs. No problem with that-however in recent years many of the players filling out our underage county panels would be behind the calibre and standard of those in some of the other stronger counties.
You are right regarding schools but as one poster highlighted, if the school itself doesn't want the outside support or want to make GAA a priority there is very little that Laois GAA can do. Portlaoise CBS should be completing with likes of Marist College and Colaiste Mhuire who played in the Leinster A Final. Portlaoise probably slightly bigger in student size to either two and yet if they were to face either of these teams it would end in a hammering.
Good win last night could have won by more but 2 more points on the board next up Clare away a good performance needed to build on last night s result
Yeah, Clare away is a massive one now. Don't want to be needing to get a result in the last game!
Fermanagh must be very poor to lose to that Sligo team.
Some lads definitely putting their hand up for a starting jersey including Fingleton, Tyrrell, Galvin and Rioghan Murphy
Quote from: Laois Rising on February 03, 2026, 10:08:41 AMSomething is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
I'd like to know what the PERCEPTION is of the 'size of pick' available to St Josephs. I honestly can't put it in numbers so can anyone throw a bit of light on it from a Census or whatever. I do know theres only 5 housing estates in the ENTIRE parish, which is a very large area, and 4 of those estates are up in The Swan. Theres 100 houses in total between those 4 estates, and it's a 25 mile round trip to Kellyville from there. Which makes me laugh at suggestions that Portlaoise moving 2 miles out to Rathleague may be an issue. There are approximately 15 kids in wolfhill school, maybe 35 kids in The Swan school. I'd imagine Luggacurren school is relatively modest too, and I believe numbers are dropping in Ballyadams.. and that's your 4 main areas in a very large parish by area. Yes, bigger numbers than a Crettyard or Barrowhouse or whoever, but don't confuse area with population. I'll take a guess here.. are there 400 to 500 houses in the parish?... I don't know. But one, I can't think of another club who's biggest population centre is a 25 mile round trip from their pitch, and two, a parish that's so big but has such small schools. All those factors have existed since day one, but every club can see new challenges post-Covid especially. 'NEW' parents aren't as inclined to drive 4 nights a week, or even 6 nights a week and bypass maybe 5 other clubs just to get to their parish club. I'd love to hear opinions, but not abuse. Thanks.
Quote from: The Saint on February 15, 2026, 05:06:39 PMQuote from: Laois Rising on February 03, 2026, 10:08:41 AMSomething is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players.
The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.
Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.
I'd like to know what the PERCEPTION is of the 'size of pick' available to St Josephs. I honestly can't put it in numbers so can anyone throw a bit of light on it from a Census or whatever. I do know theres only 5 housing estates in the ENTIRE parish, which is a very large area, and 4 of those estates are up in The Swan. Theres 100 houses in total between those 4 estates, and it's a 25 mile round trip to Kellyville from there. Which makes me laugh at suggestions that Portlaoise moving 2 miles out to Rathleague may be an issue. There are approximately 15 kids in wolfhill school, maybe 35 kids in The Swan school. I'd imagine Luggacurren school is relatively modest too, and I believe numbers are dropping in Ballyadams.. and that's your 4 main areas in a very large parish by area. Yes, bigger numbers than a Crettyard or Barrowhouse or whoever, but don't confuse area with population. I'll take a guess here.. are there 400 to 500 houses in the parish?... I don't know. But one, I can't think of another club who's biggest population centre is a 25 mile round trip from their pitch, and two, a parish that's so big but has such small schools. All those factors have existed since day one, but every club can see new challenges post-Covid especially. 'NEW' parents aren't as inclined to drive 4 nights a week, or even 6 nights a week and bypass maybe 5 other clubs just to get to their parish club. I'd love to hear opinions, but not abuse. Thanks.
Can't disagree with any of that but Joes always have three strong adult teams and are usually decent at all underage levels.
They're definitely one of the "bigger" football clubs in my mind.