Laois footballer John O Loughlin pictured at the Leinster Senior Football Championship launch.
By Cian O’Connell
Every journey commences with a single step so John O’Loughlin is satisfied that Laois are back on the road to respectability again.
It has been a demanding stint for Laois, who fell into Division Four of the Allianz Football League, but with promotion and silverware secured from the spring John Sugrue’s team enter the Leinster Championship enthused.
A tricky assignment away to Wexford is scheduled for Saturday, but O’Loughlin is encouraged by the culture being cultivated by Sugrue.
“Yeah, because it hasn't been there for the last couple of years,” O’Loughlin admits. “We've had some bad beatings and Laois football probably isn't in the best place at the moment unfortunately.
“We are trying to rectify that, he came in with a view and a primary goal to getting Laois football back to where people perceive it to be. So he is doing that, he needs the players to continue to do that for him.”
Tipperary and Clare have risen through the Divisions to established themselves in Division Two and it is a route Laois intend to follow according to O’Loughlin.
“Definitely, we were in Division Two for five straight seasons, I think,” O’Loughlin replies. “I would love to get back there.
“Obviously we would love to get up higher, but if we can get back as a really competitive Division Two team which we were it would be great. Tipperary really have come on in the past few years and in fairness to Liam Kearns, who managed Laois when I started he seems to have done a great job there.
“An All Ireland semi-final, a promotion and really close to getting up to Division One. Clare with Colm Collins are on an upward curve. We are not there at the minute, but that is where we want to get to. We want to be consistent there.”
O’Loughlin acknowledges similarities exist between Sugrue and Colm Collins in attempting to maximise the playing resources available. “They are both aspiring to do the same thing,” O’Loughlin adds. “I'd imagine Colm Collins is hoping to get Clare even further up the ladder.
“John Sugrue is a very proud and passionate man. He wants to get Laois up as far as he can, to get Laois football up to as far as he can get it.”
John O Loughlin in action during the Allianz Football League Division Four Final at Croke Park last month.
Having made an impressive start in inter-county management, Sugrue is highly valued by the Laois panel. “John is hugely respected amongst the players and within the county,” O’Loughlin admits.
“He was involved in good Kerry teams in the past, he has been up in Laois for the past number of years. He is a nice man, he is straight and he has put that bit of spirit there which we really haven't had.
“He has got the team playing as a team. He has simplified the game. Gaelic Games are simple games, it is about doing the basics really good. That is what he is trying to instill in us.
“It was hugely important to get out of Division Four, there is no point saying otherwise. We just felt we had to get out of it and it isn't where we wanted to be, but we were there for a reason.
“We didn't perform well enough in the last two League campaigns, that is factual. We had to get out of it and we did so lets try to build on it.”
There is a nice blend of youth and experience in the Laois panel currently which O’Loughlin feels is beneficial also. “The manager has come in, he has got a nice spirit among the group,” O’Loughlin states.
“You could say Laois are playing as a team now which I don't think we were doing in the last few years. We haven't met huge stumbling blocks yet and hopefully when we do meet stumbling blocks that we are able to overcome those challenges.”
The first summer test is imminent. Wexford endured a demanding stint in Division Three, but O’Loughlin is adamant that won’t count for much this weekend.
“Sport doesn't work like that,” O’Loughlin remarks. “If someone was looking from the outside saying they went down and Laois went up - it doesn't work like that and we are well aware of that.
“At the start of the calendar year Wexford were Division Three, we were Division Four. At the moment we are going to Division Three and they are coming down.
“They have home advantage, we can write up all these permutations and everyone can have their own view on it, but at the end of the day we just have to be mentally tuned in to perform on the day. If we are hopefully we will be able to overcome Wexford.”
