Laois captain Aaron Dunphy and vice-captain Martin Phelan both expressed their surprise at being awarded their leadership positions at the open media night held by the Laois hurlers last Tuesday evening.
The duo spoke ahead of Saturday’s Joe McDonagh Cup final on Saturday and reflected on what has been a very successful year thus far.
With the league portion of the Joe McDonagh Cup now over, Dunphy noted that the excitement in the camp was starting to build, but maintaining focus remained a priority. The Borris-Kilcotton clubman said, “The buzz is starting to build up, but we remain focused.
“We were here early and did video analysis starting to prepare and focus for Offaly so I think the lads were very happy with the session.”
Dunphy was named captain by Willie Maher at the start of the year, which he found quite surprising. “I was obviously delighted, a little bit surprised but delighted nonetheless,” he said.
“I knew we had chances in the league and championship so it was definitely a great year to get it and hopefully now we can get up the steps in Croke Park. It’s dream stuff really,” he added on the possibility of lifting the Joe McDonagh Cup as captain.
"It’s the best place to win but it’s also the worst place in the country to lose so we’re just looking forward to the occasion. It’s a bit cliché, but once the game starts it doesn’t really matter where it is and you just focus on the game and it all goes out the window.”
Jer Quinlan, Tom Cuddy, and Cody Comerford have been standout players for Laois in their success thus far, with Quinlan and Cuddy being mainstays throughout the league and championship on the starting 15. Dunphy expressed confidence in his younger teammates, stating, “Those lads have played in huge games already in their careers like the Leinster final here in O’Moore Park. I don’t think they’ll be overawed by the occasion and they’ve been leading us in a lot of the games and I wouldn’t have any worries about them.
“We’re going up there this weekend to familiarise ourselves with everything that’ll be happening on the match day so there’ll be nothing new to them, it’ll just be a game of hurling once the match starts.”
Laois already have a Division 2A NHL title under their belt this season and as Dunphy exclaimed, “You can’t beat winning.”
“It was a pity the way the Westmeath game went but with that being a dead rubber we can draw a line through it. We still have a lot of momentum coming into the final. Winning the league was great and we want to feel that again. It brings huge pride back to the county and drives hurling on so that’s all we’re trying to do.”
Martin Phelan joined the Laois panel in 2023 and has hit the ground running on his first year within the setup, which led to him getting the call for vice-captaincy.
“It’s all come very quick in the last year and a half, especially this year and Willie asking me to be vice-captain was a huge shock,” said the Castletown man. “It’s only my second year and I was delighted, it’s a massive privilege for your club and for your family especially with the way the year has gone it’s been great so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s opponents, Phelan acknowledged that Offaly hurling is currently on an upward trend, but he has plenty of confidence that Laois can halt it. “There’s very little between us and Offaly, we know that from playing them last year and we’ve played them twice this year,” he said.
“We’ve been lucky to beat them twice as it’s very hard to beat a team twice let alone three times so we know going into this that both teams are level on par. We’ve huge respect for them and Offaly are coming in on the crest of a wave at the moment with their U-20s so we’ll have respect for them but we’ll be going up there confident in our own ability.”
Saturday will be the first time Phelan heads to Croke Park as a player and while he wants to enjoy the experience of it all, winning is still the main focus. “It’s something to look forward to as well, there’s a few of us coming in on our first time. You won’t be there too many times so we’ll try to embrace it and take it all in while we are there and enjoy it.
“The aim is to win but these occasions don’t come along too often so we’ll try to enjoy it and it’ll be even better if we come out of there with the cup.”
Laois and Offaly go to battle in the Joe McDonagh Cup final on Saturday, June 8 in Croke Park from 3.30pm.
