‘Where we wanted to be at the start of the year but finals are for winning’

THE Laois hurlers hosted a media night in the LOETB Centre of Excellence on Friday evening ahead of their Joe McDonagh Cup final against Carlow on Saturday next and manager Tommy Fitzgerald spoke about the year to this stage and the upcoming final. Fitzgerald’s aim from the outset was to make it to Croke Park again this year. “Yeah it’s a final, it’s where we wanted to be at the start of the year and finals are for winning so that’s what we’ll be going for. “They’re all big ones, especially when you get to Croke Park and we’ll approach it on its own merits, it’s a game to be won.” Carlow may feel they have the upper hand having beaten Laois already this year and Fitzgerald knows the threat that’s posed by the neighbours. “They beat us well the first day so we’re going to be up against it, there’s no doubt about it. “We’re hoping to learn from that first day, it’s a huge task against a good team. “You can look at it both ways, we didn’t fire ourselves but they didn’t let us hurl, they won most of the contests around the pitch. “They have a serious threat in their forwards as well, we’re well aware of what we’re facing next week. “They’re going to get scores next week there’s no doubt about it, it’s about limiting their opportunities and as Pat Critchley says, ‘score more down the far end’.” After the opening round loss Laois rampaged through the remainder of their opponents, and Fitzgerald was hugely impressed by his team’s response to the result. He said, “Every team at this level is physical, they probably came out on top in the exchanges and got the better of us the last day, that’s something we’ll be looking to improve. “We went over there intent on getting the win and historically the first round of the Joe McDonagh is important because if you lose it every game is a knockout game then, but we were beaten by a better team on the night. “They beat us by nine and they fully deserved it and we knew the lie of the land then. “In fairness, our reaction was fantastic and we were lucky the Antrim game came seven days later as we didn’t want to be dwelling on a loss like that too long,” added the Laois boss. “We’ve done what we had to do to put ourselves in a position to get to a final and hopefully now get over the line. “It was massive, if we lost that day our competition was over and they were the favourites going into the competition, there was a lot riding on the line that day and in fairness to the lads they responded the right way, we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves and hurled with real hunger and aggression.” This will be Laois’s third successive Joe McDonagh Cup final and the second under Fitzgerald’s tenure, and while he feels there is some learnings to be taken from last year, ultimately it’s down to the performance on Saturday. “Every day is a school day, you learn from experiences and probably more from losses than wins,” said Fitzgerald. “That’s been the way we’ve gone about it, looking to see what can we learn from last year and how can we improve. “We analysed that, but that doesn’t mean it translates to anything different next week but you’re always trying to look for the extras. “You’re never going to get it easy in a final so we’re just trying to make sure we turn up in the best possible space and give a really strong performance, then we’ll see how the ball drops then.” The selection headaches continue for Fitzgerald going in to the big day and they’ve increased with the welcome news that Diarmaid Conway and Cody Comerford are back to fitness after their injury troubles and Laois will have a full deck to pick from. Despite the positives of having those back Fitzgerald said, “I’ve no issue saying it’s the hardest part of the job, we’ve 35 lads on the panel and they’re all good lads, they all want to play for Laois and they care about Laois. “They come in here and give their all and they go home and do all the right things as well, it’s tough to tell lads they’re not starting or on the panel. “Everyone rows in behind and realises there’s a common cause there, if you’re 34 or 35 on the panel you’re making a huge contribution to this team and that’s what we’re trying to encourage.” When asked if the players would benefit from a big Laois turnout in the stands, the Laois boss simply said, “we would.” He added, “we’ve been there the two years but it does make a big difference, and Laois haven’t won too many trophies in Croke Park so it’s an opportunity to go up and support what the lads are doing. “I was a supporter before this role and I will be after it, and anybody who cares about Laois I’d encourage them to go up and just be part of the experience and help the lads get over the line.”