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Balance is key.

Brendan Phelan has resurrected the Setanta Programme almost single-handedly and I don't ever recall seeing his name on a Harps senior team.

Underage management teams don't need 6 ex-county players or 6 exceptional coaches; a blend of strengths, backgrounds, interests and personalities would be perfect.

The issue, of course, is that we have consistently struggled to get the quality or quantity we'd desire.
Hopefully things have turned a slight corner with the set-ups seemingly in a relatively strong place for this year.

Agree with you on this point
A balance with everyone pulling in the same direction with no favoritism just all for the cause of improving the standards of both the management setups and the players. Having them better players going forward into the next groups.
As previously stated weeks ago your management/ coaches need to continuously upskill their capabilities to be able to progress with these age groups and for continuation.
How many managers / coaches have done their time from Minor U21 into Senior in our County ?

Looking at todays game wouldn't fancy BK to do too much. Sluggish & no fire in them. Slow team, bigger pitch suited Abbeyleix, they used the widths well at times

Fidel i was only calling what I thought and now I think BK might not make a semi unless they do some serious work.
I think if Abbeyleix met your typical Camross in a semi,  Camross would bully them physically but I don't think that Camross are spectacular either. Standard is poor in the county,stronger clubs holding their own level while others slightly declining & that's why calling maybe Bcola / Camross etc .  Just think the quantity & quality of players Abbeyleix missing might catch them in latter stages when things ramp up.
The Harps have got to prove us all wrong have they got that unity & grit to get them to latter stages or will it be same old same old.

Rosenallis could struggle this year If they don't get their house in order promptly. 2 weeks to Championship and after loosing to The Harps second team in Div2 League last weekend. It could come down to themselves Balliniklll Portlaoise for relegation. Castletown should have enough.  Rosenallis will need their full hand avoiding injuries to survive, The Dual setup has taken its toll also it seems.
The Harps have been too inconsistent over the years to be backing. they are talked up so much but are so disappointing plus talks some are going travelling for summer, time will tell. Don't be surprised to hear of Castletown to start been mentioned again in near future of been really competitive. League form generally means little especially to the bigger teams, Can not see Abbeyleix making a championship final with the players they are missing with very few back for any of the championship. They hurled the league with close to their full compliment when the bigger teams were down county players. could reach a semi final at best.
Wouldn't be surprised if Camross v Ballacola final although Picky & Willie in bother, maybe that's the difference to allow another team sneak into contention, RE / B/K look spent but one could reach another final.

Really thought at half time with chances we were creating that we were going to do it in the second half. Once they got that lucky goal Kildare just totally took over and dominated, Again I thought Kildares athleticism shown through and outworked Laois completely in the second-half and punished some or our short puckouts once again . Laois trying to do Limerick with 4 on 21 for our own short puckouts just don't have the quality to carry it out.  Was Tom Cuddy injured that he got no run today after playing all games up to date ?

Best of luck Lads,early start to settle any nerves or doubts and they are in it towards the end like Carlow game it is there for the winning.
A loss could set hurling back which we don't want to be debating.
Purcell or Corby coming out to midfield would be a good move hurling wise and for the engine room
Laois to get over the Line

2 minutes played over injury time and a dubious square ball call not often Laois get them calls, we will take it all day long😄
Sloppy game to be honest, alot of short passing didn't stick but Laois stayed in it and close enough to have that chance at the end fair play to them for not giving in. Conway and Mossy well ahead of the pack on performance levels

Time to redeem themselves and see have they learned from the day in Portlaoise v Kildare
All roads lead to Croker

IMO it is always far better to have a consistent management team at an age group then one which follows the team up through the ages.
A management team needs to know what it takes to perform at the standard of that age group. To manage a team at say u15, and then step up to u17 with the same group means too big a learning gap for the management. By the time the management figures it out time is up and roulette wheel spins again. Far better to set up long term management teams at each age group (with no parents involved) and have the players move up through the ages with experienced coaches at each level. The same goes for club or county. I don't believe the coaches have to have seen every player since they were kids. A coach who is looking at players and knows what is needed at that level is probably in a better position to judge than the one who still remembers the great goal little Johnny scored at u13 and will be blind to the fact he hasn't progressed since.
From my own observance I have also seen lads who were good enough to be in county squads but who didn't get on for what ever reason with a particular management group and then never went back. While we still rely on parents to manage our county squads, I fear we will never really progress.

I agree and disagree with you. In many cases the only people willing to do the jobs with these underage squads are parents. Is this a lack of ambition by county board in not looking for good exoerienced coaches for these squads. Perhaps. Is this parents trying to better their own sons chances? Perhaps. But having had a son involved on a development squad where there was a parent involved I could have nothing only admiration for the job that both the parent and the rest of the coaches did. I would think that the vast majority of of coaches, parents or not, have the very best interests of Laois hurling and football at heart.

Good groups of players are cyclical, and every few years, Laois will have a good group of players capable of challenging, no matter who the coaches are, a prime example being this year's minor footballers. They lost narrowly to three of the four Leinster semi-finalists, and for this, they ended up in a Tier 3 competition. This group have been close the whole way up and now the challenge is can Laois develop this group so they are challenging at U20 level.

Bridging this gap is crucially important and if it is done it will hopefully ensure we get a better quality senior player from the U20 grade.

well said, completely agree, ambitious county boards surely would have plans in place at maintaining them groups or suffer allowing another group regress as a result
build an environment that they all want to be apart of where they will thrive and kick on becoming better players for both their clubs and county

Called it

It is clear from the Joe Mcdonagh Cup that Laois are way ahead of the other teams including Down and Kildare who as it stands currently will be a division higher than Laois in 2026, it wont be good for laois hurling or for hurling in other counties in division 2 league to have laois in it next year Laois should make a proposal to prevent them from being relegated as it stands currently Laois could be playing in the division 2 league(3rd tier) and the Leinster championship next year.

has to be the post of the year way of kildare and carlow 

Called it wrong myself also, genuinely thought Laois were ahead of the majority of Div 2 league opposition. Laois disappointing today came up short on fitness and physicality compared to Kildare.
Kildare well deserving winners and it is great to see them progress on never begrudge a fresh team up and coming. Hopefully Laois turn up next week would still fancy them to do the job v Carlow and redeem themselves v Kildare.

Can't see wexford progressing really after scraping a home win v Offaly
Dublin look livelier again than last year .Kilkenny blitzed them early stages of Leinster Final and heads dropped. hoping they can test Kilkenny tomorrow without showing full hand and getting a crack in the Leinster Final.

Agreed on the difference in the standard . At present Laois should really be winning that comfortably compared to the year they did win and facing possibilities of Dublin or Galway
What Laois done to Down this year will be repeated with most teams in the League next season you'd imagine & no good whatsoever preparation for a possible Leinster Championship
The difference in the standard of the bottom 3 in Leinster & even Laois can vary also as we seen what Antrim done to us this year & how they are fairing out in Leinster

This conversation seem to all heading  in the same manner .
It all about modern style quailty  coaching.  I seen to many clubs training using line drills it drives me mad! Is this how the game is played? All training  should  be game based?? I go back this year's minor hurling team .there was two groups that went for the gig. One had two good kilkenny  coaches  along with two laois senior  hurlers [ enda roweland and Aaron dunphy] yet laos cb picked a different bunch and we all got to see the consequences??.so I make the point that the good management teams here were refused the role.

Can you please tell me with these decisions how can things get better?

Laois123, You are contradicting yourself a bit now. You said in above posts how can you give a management team a new group of players and expect them to know the players 6 months later. That management team of the minors were involved last year were they not firstly as far as I am aware and your clearly eluding to, resulting in surely known the vast majority of your players coming through  this year.

Now you are saying bring in new KK coaches who would know less surely of them players and 2 senior county players at the time of appointment be it if they were appointed  ( who would not have had the time to commit to be there every night and to get to know them players ). So basically as you saying personal agenda you did not want them lads in and anyone else accepted

I agree with you developing our coaches and agree with continuation of coaches within the same groups coming through the age-groups if there is progression both in the coaches and players.
Who was over them Minors and what success had they coming up along

Also what background has Brendan Phelan as I also do not know anything or have heard of him ?

As for 20s Age Group, seems to always be let fall apart, when was the last time an u20 Team competed or hurled a Leinster Final.?
Feeding group for seniors and they seem to regress before Senior . No fault of management in my opinion as sometimes similar your point regarding Minors , managers come in for 1/2 year stints haven't worked with the players at some level and they're gone again , down to county board not working on keeping groups together putting plans in place etc etc
What we say here does not matter, go to county board if you feel strongly enough to air your thoughts and see how you get on

Laois got to be hot favorite's to win Joe Mcdonagh with the standard of teams they are playing at the moment, Kerry were awful yesterday. Down will go straight back down in the League next year.
Laois are well ahead of the playing field at the moment Keep foot on the peddle. All Ireland prelims will tell where they are at with hoping they win Final first to set them up

Reflecting  on yesterday on minor game i believe  the management  team got alot wrong..I feel sorry for the bunch of players I truly believe  they could of won this one. With a injury  to dan whelan o brein was left do what he wanted. Should  it not a clear plan to neutral / spoil his game from start to end. Tom og was injured and unable  to run and to leave him on and drive ball into him was madness  .the wexford  system  of play was to drop players on set play and leaving  our spare man wondering  what was going on.  Again this year minor hurlers out due to lack of management .no game plans .I have voiced  from a early stage this management  team wasn't  what this team requires. This management  team should  move on ..this practice on a management  team coaching  kids from 13-16s then to taken on by a bunch that doesn't  known has to end.  It really  makes a difference.

Was Dan Whelan not 11;, hard to mark O Brien from opposite end of the field is it not or were we watching different games  😄
O Brien an All Star last year am I right in saying ,?

seem to have a serious gripe for Management Team. Are you going for job yourself next year seen you know the squad so well & what they need ? 

Minors were not as reactive / fast on the ball as other days even though it may have been Tier 2 games judging performances they showed they've got real ability to compete with higher level teams.  Overall I think Laois playing below par looked every bit good a team collectively but it just did not stick for them and silly mistakes on the ball cost them at times, I sensed nerves within them perhaps which is only normal. The Ref no way consistent, blew Laois at start for a throw ball & not once after that & Wexford were showing no clear release with numerous passes ..clutching at straws it's gone now
Wexford won some of the central & main big battles & that what got them over the Line on the day in my opinion. Air of Optimism within the group once can be kept together

Making no inroads in either. Day of Dual Club at high level gone
Emphasis on fitness levels gone extreme nearly & quality is just not there to follow.

Would a reduction of senior football teams, as is being talked about, maybe help some of the dual clubs re-focus a bit on hurling?

God im not sure, Ballyfin & Rosenallis just look burnt out, no kick or life in them, clonaslee have a bit more youth & freshness coming through but quality not as much at the moment . Could take Ballyfin a while to rebuild again, some fellas the wrong end of age scales holding on to keep numbers there too. Rosenallis & Clonaslee seem to have panels where half prefer football & half prefer the hurling , perhaps why they never make solid progress.

I cant see Abbeyleix beating R/E this time but maybe i am wrong & hope i am wrong because it would be a great boost to get back to another final for their clubs progression with the youth they have. Camross steadily improving but Ballacola will have their homework done too although they had a long lay-off , they will also be hungry to amend last years collapse. time will tell.

Making no inroads in either. Day of Dual Club at high level gone
Emphasis on fitness levels gone extreme nearly & quality is just not there to follow.