COMMENT: Maintaining Division one and Leinster championship status crucial to Laois hurling

Cheddar Plunkett will be diving into the deep end in his second coming as Laois senior hurling manager as the Laois native looks to push Laois onto the next level.

The messy affair that saw Eddie Brennan step now last Winter now seems a lifetime away but new challenges are on the horizon and the Laois hurlers are going to have their work cut out in this year's league and championship.

In terms of the path they have been handed, it's pretty much as tough and as unforgiving as they could have got.

Division 1B of the National hurling league sees Laois, Wexford, Kilkenny, Dublin, Clare and Antrim all squaring off against each other and while Laois can mix it with the best of them on their day, realistically, they will go into four of those five games as underdogs.

The championship is just as tough. Wexford in the opening round and a team scalded by a poor showing in the 2020 championship. Davy Fitzgerald is back at the helm there but this must be close to the end for him in the Sunny South East and he will be going all out to get a kick out of Wexford in this, what looks like being his last year with the Model County.

There looks like being no let up for Laois. In the league they were also on the unfortunate side of the draw where they have been handed three away games with two games in O'Moore Park.

Furthermore, the game against Antrim is the final game up in Belfast. Looking at it broadly, this is the only game in the  league where Laois could be deemed favourites and having that game last throws up the possibility of going up there with all the pressure on looking for a win just to stay in the division.

All that said, it's not beyond Laois to pick up points before that trip to Belfast. Counties will treat the league in different ways. Some will look to blood players for the championship but others may see league success as a more realistic target and will go all out.

Last year, Laois should have beaten Clare in the qualifiers down in Nowlan Park. They let that game slip, no doubt about it but having The Banner County at home in O'Moore Park will be one that Seamas Plunkett and his management team will target.

Clare look to be in a bit of turmoil at the moment off the pitch and you are never quite sure what you will get from them between the white lines.

Dublin are another flaky outfit. They could blow you away one week and be lackluster the following week. The Dubs will also have to travel to O'Moore Park and despite losing to them in last year's championship, Laois were down key players and Dublin are a team that they won't mind getting stuck into.

The opening game for Laois in the league is a trip to Wexford Park and a trial run for the opening round of the championship. What way will the managers be thinking here? Do they show their hand or hold back on a few tricks they might have up their sleeve.

The winners of that championship opener will have Kilkenny waiting for them in the semi final while the loser will play the loser of Antrim and Dublin in a game that will be the subsequent loser relegated to the Joe McDonagh cup for 2022.

In both league and championship, the stakes are huge for Laois. The return of Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett to the fold will strengthen their mindset and their group morale.

The buy in from the players has been good but a significant blow was struck before a ball has even been pucked with news that star forward Mark Kavanagh will be out for several months with injury and will miss both the league and championship campaigns.

For the year that's in it, maintaining their Division 1B status in the league and not dropping down to the Joe McDonagh cup are their bread and butter targets but no doubt their aims will reach a lot higher than that.

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