The Laois senior footballers have named their team for their National Football League Division 3 opener against Leitrim.
Justin McNulty’s team and panel shows a huge amount of change from the 2024 season.
From the side that lost the Tailteann Cup final to Down, eight of the 20 players that played that day are not with the squad.
2024 captain Evan O’Carroll is set to be sidelined for the year after sustaining a serious knee injury playing for Leinster in the Railway Cup.
Forwards Niall Dunne, Eoin Lowry and Rioghan Murphy are set to be out of the country for the season while Kieran Lillis has retired.
While Mark Timmons, Eoin Buggie and Paul Kingston are not involved either.
St Joseph’s duo Mikie Dempsey and Cormac Murphy are set to be out for the season with knee injuries while their clubmate Brian Daly is not part of the panel either – nor are Dylan Kavanagh and Davin McEvoy.
It all means that the starting 15 contains five players who were not part of the panel last year.
Graiguecullen’s Trevor Collins returns from a year abroad and essentially takes the place of his clubmate Timmons in defence.
While Emo’s Padraig Kirwan, who missed all of last season for club and county with a foot injury, is named at wing back.
Graiguecullen’s Danny O’Reilly, who departed the squad after the National League last year, returns as is selected at wing forward.
While the full forward line contains two new faces – Portarlington’s Ronan Coffey and Portlaoise’s Benny Carroll.
For Carroll, it is set to be a first Laois appearance for him since 2019 under John Surgue.
For Coffey, a former Laois U-20 captain, Saturday is set to be his first ever senior appearance.
As for the bench, aside from Conor Brown (Portlaoise), James Kelly (St Joseph’s), Fionn Holland (O’Dempsey’s), Liam Knowles (Stradbally), Aaron McEvoy (Ballyroan-Abbey) and Sean O’Neill (The Rock), the rest are all with the Laois panel for the first time.
If any of John Brennan (Crettyard), Jake Darcy (Annanough), Josh Hogan (Portlaoise), Jonah Kelly (Crettyard) or Cathal Lee (Clonaslee-St Manman’s), are introduced against Leitrim, they will be making their debuts.
As for the rest of the panel, the most interesting name among them is Portarlington’s Paddy O’Sullivan.
He missed last season as he was in Australia but it is understood that he returned to the panel in recent weeks and should be available for the duration of the National League.
Shaun Fitzpatrick (Ballyroan-Abbey) is currently injured while Ryan Brady (Ballylinan) is nearing full fitness after sustaining a knee injury with Laois 12 months ago.
Brendan McDonald (Killeshin), Luke O’Reilly (Portarlington), Jack Lennon (O’Dempsey’s), Jack Deegan (Stradbally) and Jamie Conway (Arles-Kilcruise) are all involved for the first time.
In terms of the total panel, 16 clubs are represented with Portlaoise contributing the most amount of players – six.
Killeshin, St Joseph’s, Portarlington, Graiguecullen, O’Dempsey’s and Crettyard supply three each.
While Stradbally, Ballyroan-Abbey, Ballylinan and Clonaslee-St Manman’s provide two each.
Players from Park-Ratheniska, Emo, The Rock, Annanough and Arles-Kilcruise make up the remainder of the panel.
Laois face Leitrim in Round 1 of the league on Saturday in Ballinamore at 2.30pm.
You can check out the starting team, subs, full panel and management team below:
LAOIS: Killian Roche; Ben Dempsey, Simon Fingleton, Trevor Collins; Padraig Kirwan, Brian Byrne, Seamus Lacey; Kevin Swayne, Damon Larkin; Danny O’Reilly, Mark Barry, Conor Heffernan; Ronan Coffey, Benny Carroll, Niall Corbet
SUBS: Conor Brown, John Brennan, Jake Darcy, Josh Hogan, Fionn Holland, James Kelly, Jonah Kelly, Liam Knowles, Cathal Lee, Aaron McEvoy, Sean O’Neill
LAOIS SENIOR FOOTBALL PANEL 2025
Conor Brown (Portlaoise)
Ben Dempsey (Portlaoise)
Damon Larkin (Portlaoise)
Benny Carroll (Portlaoise)
Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise)
Josh Hogan (Portlaoise)
Killian Roche (Killeshin)
Brendan McDonald (Killeshin)
Conor Heffernan (Killeshin)
Aaron Cooney (St Joseph’s)
James Kelly (St Joseph’s)
Jack Lacey (St Joseph’s)
Luke O’Reilly (Portarlington)
Ronan Coffey (Portarlington)
Paddy O’Sullivan (Portarlington)
Brian Byrne (Graiguecullen)
Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen)
Daniel O’Reilly (Graiguecullen)
Fionn Holland (O’Dempsey’s)
Mark Barry (O’Dempsey’s)
Jack Lennon (O’Dempsey’s)
John Brennan (Crettyard)
Ciaran Burke (Crettyard)
Jonah Kelly (Crettyard)
Aaron McEvoy (Ballyroan-Abbey)
Shaun Fitzpatrick (Ballyroan-Abbey)
Seamus Lacey (Ballylinan)
Ryan Brady (Ballylinan)
Niall Corbet (Clonaslee-St Manman’s)
Cathal Lee (Clonaslee-St Manman’s)
Jack Deegan (Stradbally)
Liam Knowles (Stradbally)
Simon Fingleton (Park-Ratheniska)
Jamie Conway (Arles-Kilcruise)
Seán O’Neill (The Rock)
Jake Darcy (Annanough)
Padraig Kirwin (Emo)
LAOIS MANAGEMENT TEAM 2025
Manager – Justin McNulty
Coach/Selector – Ross Munnelly and Diarmuid Carroll
Goalkeeper Coach – Declan O’Sullivan
S&C – Tom Hargroves
Masseur/Physical Therapist – Johnny Lawler and Jason Browne
Doctor – Simon Honan
Nutritionist – Grace Miller
Analysis – Liam Delaney, Niall Creery, Richard Dunne and Tony Bambrick
Video – Paul Dargan, Ian Bradley and Martin Corrigan
Logistics – Seamus Delaney
Liaison Officer – Liam Ramsbottom
Kitmen – Ollie Byrne and Conor McCausland
SEE ALSO – Three new faces set to be added to the Laois GAA County Board for 2025
