Being an inter-county player can be tough at the best of times. Combining the workload of a top-end sports star with the daily trials and tribulations of a normal work and family life is no easy feat, and it's tougher now than ever before according to former Meath footballer Graham Geraghty.
The two-time All-Ireland winner joined Off The Ball's Nathan Murphy to talk about his footballing career, and the two-time All Star said that if the pressures and expectations placed on current footballers were around during his day he may not have kept playing the game, particularly as the end rewards aren't there given Dublin's dominance at Leinster and All-Ireland level.
"I think for a while you probably would, but if you weren't getting any reward...the amount of time that the players put in outside of what they do with Meath or their county, it's phenomenal. To get to the standard or level fitness that they're at and to get their bodies into the shape they're in requires an awful lot of work, and I just don't know whether I'd be able for it now".
"It's a lot of time away from probably family or friends, and nights not going out, and sacrificing a lot of things just to play for your county. I think we see that now where a lot of players take time out and head off to explore the world as well".
When discussing the lack of silverware for Meath, with the county having won just one Leinster title since 2001, Geraghty said the problem may come from a lack of consistency from the backroom, with coaching staff being turned over too quickly.
"I don't know It's probably chopping and changing managers as well. If you look, Sean Boylan was there for 23 years so we had that kind of balance, and we haven't had that since. New managers come in and they bring in new players, new coaching staff, and it does disrupt. It's OK for Dublin where they have huge, huge panels and they have probably that continuous blend coming with managers and backroom teams moving on with teams as well.
"It's just difficult to see where Meath are going to improve in the next year or two to combat what Dublin have done over the last 15 years".
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