Keeping it real without losing the plot

A senior football coach thinks some of his training sessions could be doing more harm than good. He asks: "Sometimes our matches in training can get out of hand. I remember reading once that the Meath players of the 1980s felt they were really flying when there was an odd row in training. I'm not so sure it's a good thing. Any thoughts?

We put your question to Frank Foley, Meath panellist for three years in the 1980s. Foley also helped Sean Boylan out with coaching in 1996 and 1999 when Meath won their last two Sams.

He tells us that the popular perception of Meath players knocking lumps out of each other is a bit of a myth. Although he remembers one memorable, and in hindsight funny, exception when two lads went at it only to be told to cut it out and do a lap of the pitch to cool down.

"And halfway around the field they started thumping each other again," says Foley. The trouble, he says, is maintaining the intensity while avoiding the path to self-destruction.

"We only had one or two bust-ups in my three years as a player but I don't know if they contributed anything positive at all.

"You have to draw the line between fellas holding back too much and going in hard, and it is a fine line. But a full-scale dust-up is a waste of time."

This balance was especially difficult with a big game on the horizon. "Some fellas would be minding themselves too much, they'd be nervous and wary of getting hurt," says Foley. And at the same time you had fringe players chomping at the bit to get a starting place.

"You have to keep it close to the edge. Keep it whole-hearted at all times but make sure everyone knows where that line is."

And on that odd, inevitable, occasion when the line is crossed and a pair of would-be team-mates end up slugging it out, Foley maintains it has to be sorted out immediately.

"Cool it down and talk it through before it can fester or upset the team. The team is the most important thing and nothing can jeopardise it. That's why it's important to maintain the intensity, but not to let it boil over."

Save it for Cork, Dublin, Mayo or whoever you're playing yourself!

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