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Watching college from Mullingar win hogan cup in a thriller there is no reason that a college from Laois can do the same with proper  structures in place

Lads are delusional if they think a team from Laois can do that

There's been a tonne of work done in Westmeath schools for the past 20 odd years culminating in today's win

There was also an all Westmeath Leinster senior schools final this year

I'd give you some odds on you witnessing that in your lifetime

Nobody said it could be achieved without a tonne of work but it definitely could be achieved.

Portlaoise CBS with Portlaoise, The Heath, Stradbally, Ballyfin and Emo etc feeding in could definitely be an A school. Knockbeg are already an A school and have lots of Laois input.

Similarly Portarlington could be competing stronger in schools competitions.

If each Laois school could move themselves up one grade or compete stronger in A (Knockbeg) Laois football would be in a much better position.

Tullamore and Mullingar have moved up to be competitive A schools in past 10 years. How are those towns/ schools different than Portlaoise?

Because there is absolutely no interest in portlaoise cbs in Gaelic games as myself and a few more have pointed out here before now

Play the games and that's a box ticked

Offaly in particular bought into the concept of combined schools teams with their u20 county management embedded in those teams

Laois aren't even entering combined schools teams most years and when they do

It's shambolic

Watching college from Mullingar win hogan cup in a thriller there is no reason that a college from Laois can do the same with proper  structures in place

Lads are delusional if they think a team from Laois can do that

There's been a tonne of work done in Westmeath schools for the past 20 odd years culminating in today's win

There was also an all Westmeath Leinster senior schools final this year

I'd give you some odds on you witnessing that in your lifetime

That laois u20 team has no game plan,no structure,no designated free taker and no keeper

Management trying to shoe horn lads into positions they have never played in

You'd wonder did they watch a minor or u20 game last year

Tipp minors beat them 4-16 to 2-12

There's no way a team of 16/17 year olds should be beating a team of 18/19/20 year olds by that margin

You'd dread what the tipp 20's would do to them seeing as they are beating senior teams and they missing 6/7 lads eligible but gone to their seniors

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.

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

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

Laois Gaels is a Laois GAA Supporters club
Laois Gaels Website
Laois Gaels Facebook Page

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

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.

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"

Who's going to Sbloom??

Are you seriously asking me to name players on a forum and their transfers probably yet not sanctioned

Jesus wept

Hurling busier than the Football

Slieve Bloom busy in the market as you'd expect,a small club with no underage club doing its utmost to stay viable

There is no hurling in the CBS. They may have a team but there is no culture or want for hurling within the school. From the management to the students. Apparently students can't even puck around at lunch time.

I know of a few teachers in there who are good hurling coaches or were formerly good players and they've all just given up trying.

It would be a very multicultural school to be fair but it's heavily basketball/football orientated. Teachers are leaning into that too.

Given up...as in no support from school principal and management?

I am told there is very little in hurling interest from students. Training attendances are poor, particularly when students get older.

Management are oblivious, I hear they've no idea about what competitions/grades etc teams play at and apparently they seem to hire teachers who cannot and/or will not train teams, leaving a very small cohort of frustrated coaches.

There's no shortage of lads in there that are playing hurling with their clubs who would have no issue turning up for training 2/3 times a week if it wasn't the shambles that it is currently and has been for the past few decades

A few years ago they interviewed a hurler with all ireland medals for a teaching position

The person in question was well qualified for the role

And they turned him down for the position and they didn't even know who he was 

He was snapped up by another school,not in Laois and is now heavily involved with all their schools teams

There is no interest in hurling and for that matter football either in the school

Portlaoise CBS is one of the biggest boys schools in the country and its ambivalent towards the GAA at best

I won't say what it is at worst

It is not helped by the fact that the school management have basically zero in what is happening regarding sport in the school beyond organising cover for classes. I have got it first hand that they wouldn't even know what games are on.

I fully believe it needs to be driven from the top. It's night and day in comparison to KK schools.

Compare and Contrast with the approach of the girls school that they share a campus with

If you passed the place during the summer holidays you'd see the likes of Pat Critchley and John Scully amongst others out training the girls

I wouldn't be much of an expert on kilkenny schools but I do know the Trojan work that's gone on in tipp at second level the past decade and the fruit it's borne all the way down to E grade Munster competitions and not just hurling with the likes of the High School in clonmel in a Munster A football semifinal as well as being a harty school this year

Schools are vital as Westmeath Offaly and Kildare have proven this year and recently

Ferrybank trained 7 times over Christmas and played one challenge game also

Which is more than that CBS squad trained all year and one more challenge game than what they played

No offence to the players themselves who played but there was another 10/15 who didn't bother playing all year as it was pointless

There is no interest in hurling and for that matter football either in the school

Portlaoise CBS is one of the biggest boys schools in the country and its ambivalent towards the GAA at best

I won't say what it is at worst

Up till recently the school has resisted any attempts from the county board to put coaches in

It was the one second level school in the county who even refused the GAA programs for TY students

It has also refused club men from coming in helping out and coaching teams

As many have said here before if you want success in any shape or form the schools are key

Did Shane Keegan not give a big speech at Laois GAA convention that he has Portlaoise CBS sorted?

Did he ?

Ferrybank trained 7 times over Christmas and played one challenge game also

Which is more than that CBS squad trained all year and one more challenge game than what they played

No offence to the players themselves who played but there was another 10/15 who didn't bother playing all year as it was pointless

There is no interest in hurling and for that matter football either in the school

Portlaoise CBS is one of the biggest boys schools in the country and its ambivalent towards the GAA at best

I won't say what it is at worst

Up till recently the school has resisted any attempts from the county board to put coaches in

It was the one second level school in the county who even refused the GAA programs for TY students

It has also refused club men from coming in helping out and coaching teams

As many have said here before if you want success in any shape or form the schools are key

http://tipperary.gaa.ie/senior-hurling-challenge-tipperary-1-31-laois-0-17/

I was at it

By my rough calculation,Laois were 6/7 points ahead at half time.
Tipp made 11/12 changes for the second half,the wind was strong but didn't have a bearing on the final result.

As a portlaoise based Tipp man I can't have any complaints

Tipp have a squad of 40 in doing 5 nights a week since the start of the month.

Before that,they were on personalized S and C programmes.

as a Tipp man exiled up here,it's fairly obvious that the bulk of the laois team have some catching up to do in terms of S and C.