The news that Eddie Brennan was appointed as Laois senior hurling manager broke in August and has been getting huge reaction ever since.
With the recent ratification of the eight time All-Ireland winner on Monday, LaoisToday took to the airwaves to discuss the appointment on our new GAA podcast for the rest of the championship season.
We were joined by former Borris-Kilcotton and Clough-Ballacolla manager and Kilkenny native Tommy Buggy to discuss Brennan taking the role.
“This is an excellent appointment for Laois hurling,” said Tommy.
He added: “I know Eddie well through various bits and pieces. He will bring a culture to it you’d hope, the culture that he grew up in, where the main principle in that is hard-work and honestly.”
Needs strong backing behind him
Tommy stressed the importance of having a strong panel of players backing what the Graigue-Ballycallan man has in mind for Laois hurling.
“What Eddie needs now is to get the best 34 or 35 players in Laois to row in behind him, back him and work as hard as they possibly can and create that bond, that unity, that every county teams needs to be successful.”
“I think if they buy in to what he’s going to try to do, they’ll give themselves a great chance. You will have nay-sayers everywhere but I’ve seen a good few games already this year and anyone who follows hurling could pick the right 32 or 34 that are quite capable, under the right stewardship and under the right guidance of being really good inter-county hurlers. There are a couple of diamonds out there that haven’t been discovered yet,” said Tommy.
The Castlecomer man says that Brennan has been to a number of matches around the county so far when it comes to scouting for players, from senior to junior level.
According to Tommy, keeping an eye on players at different levels is pivotal for the development of Laois hurling.
“You’re looking for certain qualities in a guy, and no matter what level he’s at, if he has those qualities and is prepared to learn, prepared to work hard, it doesn’t matter what level he’s playing at. You can coach and bring him up to the levels required but if he doesn’t have those qualities he’s never going to come to the level anyway,” concluded Tommy.
Over the following weeks, we will be joined by guests from the club and county scene as well as by some of the LaoisToday team who will be out and about covering the games.
One will preview the weekend action and will go out every Friday. The other will look back on the games, the talking points, the best performers and the big moments and will go live on the Monday after the weekend.
All of our GAA Podcasts are brought to you in association with Breslin’s SuperValu, Abbeyleix and Rathdowney.
You can listen to the Podcast in full right here.
SEE ALSO – Eddie Brennan’s backroom team is revealed while new Laois U-20 hurling manager is also named
