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Jack Nolan made some interesting points on Midlands Radio 3. He says that our county players are generally a reflection of the club game in Laois - lacking physicality, intensity and no consequence for a bad season with so many senior teams off the mark.

We need a strong underage structure once again and a dog eat dog championship like in the hurling. Until then, we are going nowhere only backwards.

Even if we do improve, when we see survival in Div 3 as a success, it shows you how far we have fallen. We are now a top 20 county at best.

The good news for me is that many in Tipp credit Creedon with building the structures in the county and taking on the vested interests. I wish him luck in Laois. The recent resistance to reforming the senior championship illustrates the challenges he faces.

Yes, the management team do look very competent and are adding freshness. The big question is whether we have enough players that can cut it at this level. We have to be much better than last year and we still essentially have a young inexperienced team.

I hope things go well between now and 18th February - could define our year!

Could be a rough March if we are beaten by Kerry and Offaly.

Cahir definitely needs more game time and is a risk in the corner for now - I thought Lawlor did well enough in the Walsh cup.

We got destroyed for pace against Kerry twice last year. Bergin is more mobile and versatile so might be put back out the field for now, maybe even centre back. Darren Maher is a full back or nothing. Mullaney looks unfit but still manages to cover huge ground and can win his own ball. Paddy Purcell is probably not a centre back.

Would not drop Downey, he looks very comfortable at this level and scraps well around the middle. He has pace and skill and mops up ball.

Eanna Lyons is another half forward option. Doesn't score much but has a great hand and is a good scrapper.

Picky was a phenomenon for Carlow IT last year too but seemed to struggle with the county afterwards. Hopefully he will be back to his best for the year.

My guess at the Kerry 15 -

Fleming
Palmer
Maher
Healy / Lawlor
Mullaney
Whelan
Bergin
Purcell
Downey
Picky
Conroy
Cha
King
Foyle
Willie Dunphy

Good strong bench in terms of forwards. Backs are always the worry with this team.

Don't think it was a hammering Laois kicked 19 or 20 points as well...

Great game by all accounts!

If Laois scored 19 or 20 points though, and Mayo scored 3-21 or so, that'd still be in the wheelhouse of a 10 or more point defeat.

Which to be fair, depending on the team Mayo has out, is about where we are right now I'd say.

Mayo had a decent team out ...it's these sort of games where you learn things !!

Yes - I would say that we learned that we have a dodgy full back line if we conceded 3 goals. Anyone actually at the game?

Anyone know how the Laois players did for IT Carlow in the Offaly draw on Sunday?

He still makes a lot of good points though -

1. We haven't enough high quality minor, U-21 and senior hurling teams and could do with a few more amalgamations. 12 really competitive teams would be a good start. Tipp have something like 36.
2. The quality of what is coming up is still not nearly good enough. We had a good spell that produced some nice hurlers but the teams following them have not been great on average. Some massive beatings at Tony Forrestal / Arrabawn competitions are now transferring back up to minor level.

There is probably a link between the number of competitive clubs and the quality of young lads coming through. Divisional teams are good enough for the likes of Cork and Kerry but we could never have them in Laois it seems. Surely a Divisional team that included Trumera, Mountrath, Colt, Shanahoe would be competitive at Senior level and still allow a club ethos at Senior A or Intermediate? Or a Na Fianna senior team? Surely there can be a way to provide incentives to talented young fellas to hurl competitively without losing connection with their club?

This all reads quite well. Anyone care to hazard a guess at what the team will look like for the Louth game?

Yes and I think it is specifically half backs and corner backs we are in greater need of. Mullaney, Leigh Bergin and Eric Killeen look far more suited to central roles. Would be great to see a few pacy corner men coming through.

This really depends what you mean by 'Intermediate'.

If you mean the second tier of hurling (Senior A, Senior B, whatever) - then the roll of honour looks different.

Castletown are essentially the current Intermediate champions by historical comparison.

Meaney was off his game catching wise Finn caught one great ball....But they were outnumbered in there with bodies and size...Hopefully with Quigley and O'Loughlin back and maybe Finn as a half forward and Lillis there you'd have more of a presence around that area still thought two midfielders worked very hard especially in the first half.

Will Quigley be back? Suggestion from previous post that he wouldnt.

Does anyone know for sure who was missing yesterday that is definitely involved this year?

Picky, Cha, Cahir?, Darren Maher, Dwayne Palmer, Mark Kavanagh, Colm Stapleton, Enda Rowland, Matthew Whelan, John Lennon. I'm guessing all of these will be back at some point following colleges or injury. Anyone else? Is Joe Campion back? I am guessing Zane is a no.

I think there is a couple of really tough years coming up and that we will have to be very patient. The team has transformed completely since 2015 and will likely struggle physically against established teams. Plenty of skillful hurlers committing so hopefully they can stay together for a few years to build a platform for the future.

Can't fault the character and work rate once we got going. NUIG was filled with Galway and Clare lads and they could hurl. Looked sharp enough and their age profile and ours was about the same. Was impressed with how we grew into it given how the shape of the team is so different these days. Leigh Bergin, Ryan Mullaney, Paddy Purcell, PJ Scully, Roddy King stood up and you can see these lads being the heart of the team for years to come. They are all still really young though as were most of those around them and in reality there are only a few 'big' names to come back in. Eanna Lyons caught some great balls when we were under pressure and looks a great half forward prospect.

What sort of panel / team have we for Sunday?