Jack O'Connor's Column:Meath may have benefited from Graham Geraghty's training-ground fight

The swooning and fainting and moral indignation which followed Graham Geraghty's training-ground fisticuffs made me laugh. There were many, including former Meath players from a team who were never shy about skelping at training, who wanted Geraghty to be given a one-way ticket to Van Diemen's Land. If Geraghty could have bottled all the outrage he could have made the journey by hot air balloon.

The Meath management though have to be complimented on how they handled the incident. They took action but they left the door ajar. Last Saturday Geraghty's overall contribution and the obvious spirit in the team proved they got it right.

What is so amusing is that training-ground bust-ups are often a healthy sign. Colm Coyle, who was a tough man and who played with tough men, won't have been too alarmed. The odd training-ground skirmish shows there is a bit of intensity and bite in the training, which is exactly what a manager looks for. Troops have to experience battleground conditions if they are to survive when they go to war.

I'm not claiming Graham Geraghty is an angel. Far from it, but Meath are a better team for having him around. Sometimes your best players are your most flawed people. The real test of a manager is how he deals with that. With some players the difference between being great and being average is that edge they have to their personalities. Roy Keane wasn't the most naturally gifted player or the easiest to handle. It was his desire and mental strength and that nasty side to him which made him stand out as a winner.

Graham Geraghty makes Meath a better team. That's the bottom line. Ask any opposing defence if they were glad to see him coming back.

People underestimate the strain which amateur players operate under. We expect people who play for their county as a pastime to have professional standards. They are being scrutinised by the press in the same way soccer players who earn £50,000 a week are watched.

Whether they lose the head in training or engage in any other misdemeanour in their private lives, they can be plastered all over the papers. The manager of an intercounty team is constantly fighting on two fronts. He needs to get his team right on the training ground. His other battle is with the media. Training sessions are, by and large, open to the public and every incident gets magnified out of all proportion.

Last year in Kerry there were so many instances of exaggeration, hyperbole and plain lies coming out of our training sessions that one night we decided to close the gates so we could operate in a bit of peace. Instead the locked gates became the headline. "A New Low In Kerry Football". It's hard to win. One pundit suggested we were locking the gates in case players attempted to escape down the town.

This is the dilemma every manager faces. You like a bit of atmosphere and edge at training because it adds something to it. The downside is the stuff that leaks out. Next you know issues you would like to leave in-house are being discussed on the national airwaves. Some managers panic a bit when that happens and think they have to yield to public opinion. The temptation for a weak manager is to try to make himself look strong and hardline. The smarter guys like Coyle leave themselves some wriggle room and never back themselves into a corner.

Colm will have heard a lot of people telling him to ditch Geraghty and to build for the future. For Meath the future is now. They are playing games and getting masses of experience. They have a strong midfield and Stephen Bray is the best forward we have seen in the championship so far this year. I said here a few weeks ago he was a machine when it came to point scoring. On Saturday in Portlaoise we saw another component of his game - he scored two goals and could have had at least one more.

Meath mightn't yet have all the tools to go the full distance but they will have benefited greatly from their win over Galway. Their momentum is building. They have links back to their past with Darren Fay, Nigel Crawford and Geraghty, as well as Coyle and Tommy Dowd on the sideline. They have a man with a foot in the past and another in the future in the shape of young Shane O'Rourke. Young O'Rourke has the physique, the pedigree and the use of both feet and looks like he will be a fine player. On the basis that a good big one is better than a good small one he will be a great addition.

Colm O'Rourke's input goes well beyond supplying his son to the team. His work in that great nursery, St Pat's of Navan, has ensured a supply of talent to all Meath teams and that work is manifesting itself at senior level now. When a legend like Colm is preaching the gospel day in and day out it is amazing how young lads become true believers quite quickly.

Meath have developed as the games have gone along. They had two great battles with Dublin in front of full houses. They were competitive in both games and possibly should have won the first. They seem to have learned quickly too which again is the mark of good management.

They now play Anthony Moyles on the 40 allowing him to drop back like an extra defender. He is such a good athlete he is able to get up and down. In the second Dublin game they kicked ball away stupidly in parts of the field. They were kicking ball from way too deep in defence. They have stopped doing that and have certainly improved their distribution.

They play the ball early and I presume that's a part of the way they play club football. Meath won't be getting caught out by these massed defences. They know how to fight for their ball.

Visibly they have come together as a team as the championship has progressed. The bit of ruaile buaile that the Geraghty business brought will have helped in the long run. You need a bit of tension and adversity to get lads out of the comfort zone. That and a few wins will have brought them closer together.

If they can get Graham Geraghty settled down and playing inside along with Bray and Brian Farrell and with Shane O'Rourke learning all the time, they have the ammunition. Nobody will want to meet them in the next round.

To have come that far so soon is a sign of smart management.