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I'm not sure why Sligo had expectations of beating Laois today. Even the bookies had them as favourites today. They have been really really poor the last number of years. I think they got caught up in the hype of winning an U20 title in Connaught and riding the wave of a lucky draw in the Tailteann Cup last year. If memory serves me correctly they fluked a win over New York and beat Leitrim on penalties before giving a spirited performance losing to Cavan in a semi-final. Laois should be beating a team of the stature of Sligo by at least 5/6 points which they ultimately did. It was a case of job done today. Winter conditions (and I mean no offence by this) suit a pairing like Lilis and Finn. It is when you hit the firmer pitches of the summer and the pace of games really intensifies that will be the test of them. However, it is a good start. I'd like to see players like Burke of Crettyard get game time in the league. the reality is Finn and Lillis in their 30s and its asking a lot of them to keep going for a full 70 minutes in the big games later in the year. Having players with youth, speed and athleticism to come on with 10/15 minutes to go in the heat of battle in a Tailteann Cup knock out game could prove crucial to our chances this year. With Wexford not overly impressive in their game this weekend I expect Laois to go two wins from two next week.

Perhaps establish a proper coaching committee or even better two coaching committees, one for hurling and one for football. Commit a serious portion of our surplus money from the last couple of years to these committees and with the right people there you will see results. People are more inclined to get involved when they know others-and especially good people- will be involved too. It is too much to ask one person to spearhead a role like this, especially with our county spread across hurling and football. I wouldn't blame anyone for passing over this position on the county board in its current guise. All you will get is grief, apathy and eventual disillusionment. Why would you put yourself through that.

I'll see you there.

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Seeing Bray Emmets lame the Leinster Intermediate title today highlights what an opportunity Abbeyleix failed to capitalise on this year. Chance of Al-Ireland success in Croker was there for them this year and they really left it behind. Fair play to Bray Emmets on their success. Great to see clubs/counties outside of the traditional hurling elite winning titles at provincial level.

You only have to look at the Laois intermediate championship to see that he was on a par if not ahead of other forwards on the county panel these last few years. If Ross was 22 and playing and scoring the way he did in this year's intermediate championship there would huge call out for him to be in with the panel for the coming year. This argument that Ross should have stepped away from Laois panel years ago is ridiculous. You pick the best players possible that are available to you and he definitely fell into that category. It was up to the younger players to step up to mark and dislodge Ross from the panel. In fairness, Mark Barry to take one example took his opportunity and was rewarded with a starting place for the county. Ross was not stopping anyone who was genuinely good enough from playing for Laois. I would suggest getting to train alongside the likes of Munnelly and seeing his dedication and professionalism could only be a good thing for the development of younger players. I'd have no problem seeing him return to the panel in 2023 if he still has the time and hunger for it. If he decides to call it a day it he has served Laois football exceptionally and will deserve all the platitudes that will no doubt come his way.

Kilmacud had their homework done on Portarlington. Got their match ups right and the lighter Port forwards was physically dominated by their markers. It's a fair point made-Port players physically fit and strong enough for Laois club football but its a different ball game playing Kilmacud who would pretty much match up to any county team in terms of their physicality and conditioning. People were optimistic that Port were timing their run this season but getting the rub of the green against Ballyroan-Abbey, Portlaoise and a Castletown team who were minus Ben Brosnan on the day was probably an indication of where they were at really. Still though winning three county titles in a row is no easy feat and that Kilmacud team I reckon will win the All-Ireland title this year. No shame losing out to a side of their calibre.   

It also re emphasises the need to revamp our intermediate championship. Sending our 17th rank team to compete isn't doing us any favours in the Leinster intermediate championship.

Had the Harps been relegated it would have been a set back to them but sometimes going down a level, especially with a young team can be beneficial. Gaining adult hurling championship experience and winning games would create a positively that can be carried into the following year. A team like the Harps could win a county premier intermediate title and give Leinster and possibly even an All-Ireland title a right rattle. I said this 12 months ago about Abbeyleix and it appears that there is a good buzz around the team this year with their young players really progressing they hopefully they will challenge for Leinster this year.  Would expect them to challenge one or two teams in senior championship next year.

A lot of the Harps underage success of the last 5-10 years you could argue has been built on quantity of good players as opposed to maybe been driven by 2/3 exceptional players on any of those successful teams.  Therefore a lot of those lads stepping up to senior are not necessarily going to improve or add greatly to their senior team. What you need from your underage teams are one or two 'exceptional' players coming through every year that will go straight in and improve the senior team that is currently there. A lot of what the Harps have brought through are of a similar standard to what is maybe already there-hence they don't appear necessarily to be making any improvement despite their great efforts. 


I admire what the Harps are doing-they get great numbers and keep their players interested and involved. It will hopefully pay off for them if they continue on the path that they are.

Agreed . Was at a league match late summer over there. Lot of really good work been done at Park/Timahoe from underage upwards .

PRT are making slow but steady progress
Beaten in Junior A Final
Beaten in Junior c Final

At underage
Beaten in u13 A1 final
In u15 A1 final
In minor B final

They need to push on to intermediate in the next year or 2 but they have a steady stream of young lads coming in

The Harps are a head scratcher

Why the best juvenile club of the last 5-10 years can't translate it's success at juvenile into being at least a permanent fixture at senior

Congratulations to C/B they have shown the way,they are now enjoying the fruits of 20 years of hard labour

Portlaoise look to be on an upward trajectory again. Lot of players in their starting fifteen who have plenty room for improvement over the next twelve months. Lillis and Callinane still in good nick and should be there again next year providing the necessary experience and leadership. While its a very disappointing lose on Sunday the future looks bright again. Portarlington really missing the eldest of the Murphy's- he was a great focal point to their forward line and a real leader to the team. O'Dempsey's have serious momentum and hunger to them. Their style of football is very much suited to good weather and a firm pitch. Hopefully we get good weather and a good spectacle come the final. If we get good footballing conditions I think O'Dempsey's will win. Barry might be the difference between the two sides. Has really stepped up as probably the top forward in Laois in the last few games. Everyone expecting Port to find another gear. They couldn't find it for Portlaoise game last weekend and I wouldn't be surprised if they don't find it in a couple of weeks time either. 

In Kerry only 8 clubs take part in the senior football championship along with the 8 regional sides.  There are 60 odd football clubs in Kerry. In Laois 16 clubs play in the senior football championship and we have only 27ish football clubs in the county. It's madness how Laois football is structured. It's no surprise then when you see Kerry teams repeatedly winning All-ireland Junior and intermediate titles-and these clubs are thrilled to win these titles and it brings great pride, exciting and joy to these clubs and parishes. I see Kerry are actively looking at tweaking their structures slightly again regarding their championships to maximise the quality of them. They establish review committees at the end of each year to identify how they can improve things going forward.

He was with Down this year in some sort of coaching capacity- I don't know what else he had done/is doing but it's a fair leap from doing a couple of nights coaching with Down in division 2 as part of their backroom team to managing at division 1 intercounty level. Surely, you'd be looking for someone with a bit more of a proven record. You can't see players being overly enthusiastic to get involved. 

At this rate Cheddar might have to take the job for the third time.

I've been at all the senior football championship games over the past couple of weeks . I think we are in for a different kind of championship this year in the sense that it will be more open than in previous years . Portlaoise dominated for years but they are now pack with the pack . Portarlington were virtually unplayable the past two seasons but I've seen them in the league a few times this year and i seen them against Killeen and ODempseys recently. They are not at the level they were at the past two years . Port are still going to take beating but they are not altogether as strong . They are giving away easy scores and goal chances that they wouldn't of done last year or the year before . I know they are missing a few players but they don't look as strong or as fine tuned
I think we have 6 teams who can win the championship this year . Portarlington, Graiguecullen, St Joseph's, Portlaoise, ODempseys and Ballyroan Abbey. Not much between any of them at the moment .

Wouldn't it be great if we had an 8/10 team senior championship and we got two groups of four/five where we had three/four rounds of games with the top teams playing against even other on a regular basis. The O'D v Port game and Joes v Ballyroan A two examples of this. It would cut away so many meaningless games between mid/low ranked teams or where top side brushes aside low ranked team. Surely help bring on the standard of football in the county if the top championship sides having regular games against one another. 

Port have come back to the pack but I expect them to improve game on game. They are avoiding Joes, Portlaoise and Graigue in the quarters so they should have another game to bring them on before they face a true contender to their crown.

Hopefully the intermediate championship can be revamped soon. It needs to be a 12 team competition with a least 8/9 first team club teams involved. It would improve the quality of the championship immensely. If I had a choice, I would rather my club be competitive challenging for a county title at intermediate level rather than hoping just to avoid relegation from the Laois senior championship year on year. Whose knows, with a strong intermediate county championship winning side there is a possibility of a Leinster title and an All-Ireland Final appearance in Croke Park. Winning championship matches and making a county final really brings a feel good factor to a parish/community. Look at the last few Leinster winning sides from Meath, Wexford, Louth, Kildare-with a slightly better club side coming out of Laois, we would be there or thereabouts for winning these titles.