Fennelly questions commitment of Laois players

Brendan Fennelly may not have resigned as Laois senior hurling manager on Saturday, but his frustration at how his first year panned out is all too obvious.

The curtain came down on Laois season's when Cork throttled them by 34 points in a eye-watering qualifier defeat in Portlaoise.

A decent league run where they finished third in Division 2 was the highpoint of a campaign marred by rumours of discontent in the camp and a lack of commitment from certain players.

Indeed, only 13 of the 30 invited players turned up for Fennelly's first meeting with the squad and they had to borrow a player from the opposition for a recent challenge game against the Waterford Under-21s.

In an interview with RTÉ's 'The Sunday Game' following the Cork match, Fennelly conceded: "I found a terrible lot of disillusionment in it from day one really. Players not wanting to play for their county.

"I don't want to tarnish everybody with the one brush - there's some great individuals there hurling for Laois. I could name off seven or eight players who would give their lives for Laois.

"From a management point of view and all the lads around me and the County Board, everybody has worked very, very hard.

"We've spoken a lot and had quite a few rows along the way, trying to get inside the players' heads to see what they're thinking and what their problems are. It's very, very hard to get any of them to open up to us.

"The back-up from the County Board has been excellent. They've been a great help to the management team.

"Anything that the players wanted or anything we asked for - at any stage from January right up to now - has been given with a heart and a half. But the players haven't responded."

The midlanders' panel will undoubtedly take the brunt of the blame for the Championship losses to Antrim and Cork, but the Laois County Board will come under scrutiny for their role.

Fennelly, whose only previous inter-county management experience was with Carlow, was appointed to his current position last September. Some say that the Kilkenny man's approach and that of his management team has not done anything for the development of Laois hurling, tactically or otherwise.

This was quite apparent during the Cork game. The Rebels were regularly allowed exploit the glaring space between the Laois full-back line and the half-backs who were positioned too far up the pitch.

Goalkeeper Patrick Mullaney and his last line of defence had little chance of keeping out the goals.

For Laois hurling fans, Fennelly's post-match words are eerily familiar to those uttered by former manager Damien Fox following his resignation in the summer of 2008.

Back then he also cited a lack of commitment from the players, with only six turning up to one particular training session in Rathdowney.

If Fennelly and Laois part company, the O'Moore men will be left looking for their 14th senior hurling manager since the mid-1990s.