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Post by Ballyfireside on Apr 10, 2014 1:00:16 GMT
(An short interview by Ian O'Riordan with Colm from Today's Irish Times. This is a straight enough account and is worth a read.)
He must have replayed it countless times in his head already, and still Colm “Gooch” Cooper can’t completely fathom the moment. He is now resigned to missing the rest of the season, and with that his first championship match for Kerry in 12 years, and feels primed to embrace the long, slow process of rehabilitation, but how could such a simple tackle result in such a devastating injury?
“I still don’t know if there was a pop, or a click, or anything like that,” he says. “And I was clinging on to hope, walking off the field, that it mightn’t be as bad. But there was a lot of pain, something I had never come across before, so I knew there was some damage done.”
That was the moment, eight weeks ago this Saturday, when Cooper rode a seemingly harmless tackle in the All-Ireland club semi-final: the game ended with Dr Crokes losing to Castlebar Mitchels, and then, 48 hours later, came the news that Cooper would also be lost to Kerry for the rest of 2014, that simple tackle not only rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, but also fracturing the knee bone itself.
‘Goal chance’
Indeed Cooper may never completely fathom the moment: “I remember thinking as well, for half a second, that there was a goal chance on. But a couple of Castlebar lads came across, and when I realised it wasn’t on, I kind of had to shorten my kick with my right leg. Then a Castlebar player came across to try to get a block, and just made contact with my knee. There was impact, and when I landed then, it was like my knee went forward, and then came back.
“But there’d be hundreds of tackles where that has happened, and that I’ve just stepped over, or stepped out of, or jumped over, or whatever. Just this time the contact knocked me off balance, whatever way it happened. You’d get bigger blows in matches but this one, it was the one I couldn’t get out of, and the damage was done. But you move on.”
Although it’s not quite as simple as that: the following Friday, Cooper went under the knife of leading knee surgeon Dr Ray Moran at the Santry Sports Clinic in Dublin, and the fracturing of the knee bone will make for a more complicated recovery process.
He’s still moving around on crutches, and it will be several more weeks before he can start even light running – but what is certain is that Cooper won’t be rushing things.
“Certainly my outlook now is a lot more positive than it was a month, or six weeks ago, in terms of when I saw my leg, and the knee, when I came out of surgery. I suppose having not had any major surgery like that before, and when you’re struggling to get up to go to the toilet, you’re saying, ‘how am I ever going to get back up on it on a championship field?’
“But I’ve seen remarkable improvement in the last 10 days or so. That just tells me that it’s going to get there, but that it’s going to take time. Hopefully it will end with getting back on the field with a Kerry jersey on and that’s my aim and my goal right now.”
Cooper is not yet completely sure how it will feel once the championship starts, when for the first time since the summer of 2002, he will play no part with Kerry. He turns 31 in June and sees no reason why he can’t come back as strong again in 2015, and there will be plenty of time to ponder all that while his team-mates are off doing what he used to be doing.
“I’m certainly resigned to the fact I won’t be playing in 2014. It’s going to be 2015 before it happens, but whether it’s the start of the league I don’t know. Hopefully the healing is going to be good but from talking with people and talking to experts you just can’t push this injury. I don’t what to come back and it be a scenario where I’m 90 per cent right. So that’s probably easier from my point of view, saying ‘look, the year is gone’. I just have to move on from it, and get it as right as I can.
‘Start rehab’
“Certainly when I get the green light to start my rehab, I’ll be getting back into the pool, doing a lot of swimming, a lot of cycling, getting to the gym and maybe doing some upper body stuff.
“And of course it takes a little bit of time to digest, and there’s probably a bit of grieving time there that has to be given. To be completely honest it hasn’t 100 per cent sunk in yet. Kerry are going away on a training week to Portugal next week, that’s always been the signal for me that the championship is around the corner.
“This time you’re going to be sitting on the terraces. It’s going to be strange. Even attending last week’s game, against Cork, was a bit strange, but there are hundreds and thousands of players who have done something like this, and learned to deal with it.”
Indeed Cooper is not yet sure what if any supporting role he’ll play with Kerry this summer, or indeed if he’d be better off staying away completely.
“It’s a difficult one for me, because all I know is playing in terms of Kerry. Am I being a bit selfish on my part? Perhaps. But being away from it a little while will really drive me, refocus me, and give me the bit of hunger to come back stronger again.
“And maybe something will click in the summer, in the back of my mind, of maybe not taking it for granted, and to understand what a privileged position I’m in.”
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Post by glengael on Apr 10, 2014 9:41:01 GMT
Colm Cooper admits he’s reluctant about rejoining the Kerry panel in a non-playing capacity for the Championship.
Captain prior to his season-ending cruciate injury, the eight-time All Star wants to concentrate on getting his right knee perfect for next year.
He’s yet to speak to manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice about the idea of coming on board again, but reveals it’s currently looking less than likely.
“It’s a difficult one for me because all I know is playing in terms of Kerry. All I want to do is be a part of it out on the field and be involved in the big games.
“Being part of it in a different capacity whatever it might be — carrying the water bottles, just being around the dressing room and group — I don’t know.
“I haven’t had a chat with Eamonn about that but right now, I would find it difficult because I’m a player and that’s all I want to do.
“I’m convinced I’m going to be playing again next year. I want to come back and play. I want to be focused on that. Am I being a bit selfish on my part? Perhaps.
“Being away from it a little while will really drive me and refocus me and give me the bit of hunger.”
Speaking extensively for the first time since an operation on a fractured right knee and torn anterior cruciate ligament, Cooper was taken aback by the reaction to his injury picked up for Dr Crokes in their February All-Ireland club semi-final defeat to Castlebar Mitchels.
Was there too much bleating over it? Maybe. “I suppose there was a bit of emotion because people had seen me play for 12 years and when that’s happening you take it for granted.”
But then Cooper himself had felt he could keep his unbroken run of Championship games going back to his debut in 2002. “I was always very proud of that record that I played in every Championship game for Kerry because at some stage in your career you could be injured, suspended, sick or you will miss matches. But that was a record where I was saying, ‘wouldn’t it be fantastic if I could keep it my whole career’. Maybe I was thinking too far ahead and it got the better of me.
“But look, initially it’s hugely disappointing and it was difficult enough to leave it sink in and digest. But my outlook now is probably a lot more positive than it was a month or six weeks ago in terms of when I saw the knee when I came out of surgery. When you’re struggling to get up to go to the toilet, you’re saying, ‘how am I ever going to get back up on it on a Championship field?’
“But I’ve seen remarkable improvement in the last 10 days, two weeks, so that just tells me that it’s going to get there and it’s going to take time.”
It’s now seven weeks since surgeon Ray Moran took the scalpel to the 30-year-old’s knee, but you won’t see him in a Kerry jersey this season, he insists. Not even if they reach September. “With the damage I’ve done to the knee, it’s unrealistic to expect massive results over a short period of time.”
Cooper, with the help of crutches, took his seat in Austin Stack Park last Sunday only to see Kerry humbled by Cork. “If there is any time to get a kick in the ass or anything like that, last Sunday was the time to get it,” he says.
He doesn’t believe the prospect of having to beat Dublin in Croke Park a second time this season will put off Cork in this Sunday’s Division 1 semi-final. “I don’t think Cork will fear them, I think they will look forward to coming up to Dublin, they’ve beaten them already in the league. All I can say is I’ve seen Cork at first hand last weekend, and I thought they were quite good, possibly against a below-par Kerry. But I think they’ll match up well against Dublin at the weekend and they’ll have a big say in the Championship.”
John Fogarty
GAA Correspondent Irish Examiner
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seamo
Fanatical Member
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Post by seamo on Apr 10, 2014 14:29:33 GMT
Colm Cooper admits he’s reluctant about rejoining the Kerry panel in a non-playing capacity for the Championship. Captain prior to his season-ending cruciate injury, the eight-time All Star wants to concentrate on getting his right knee perfect for next year. He’s yet to speak to manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice about the idea of coming on board again, but reveals it’s currently looking less than likely. “It’s a difficult one for me because all I know is playing in terms of Kerry. All I want to do is be a part of it out on the field and be involved in the big games. “Being part of it in a different capacity whatever it might be — carrying the water bottles, just being around the dressing room and group — I don’t know. “I haven’t had a chat with Eamonn about that but right now, I would find it difficult because I’m a player and that’s all I want to do. “I’m convinced I’m going to be playing again next year. I want to come back and play. I want to be focused on that. Am I being a bit selfish on my part? Perhaps. “Being away from it a little while will really drive me and refocus me and give me the bit of hunger.” Speaking extensively for the first time since an operation on a fractured right knee and torn anterior cruciate ligament, Cooper was taken aback by the reaction to his injury picked up for Dr Crokes in their February All-Ireland club semi-final defeat to Castlebar Mitchels. Was there too much bleating over it? Maybe. “I suppose there was a bit of emotion because people had seen me play for 12 years and when that’s happening you take it for granted.” But then Cooper himself had felt he could keep his unbroken run of Championship games going back to his debut in 2002. “I was always very proud of that record that I played in every Championship game for Kerry because at some stage in your career you could be injured, suspended, sick or you will miss matches. But that was a record where I was saying, ‘wouldn’t it be fantastic if I could keep it my whole career’. Maybe I was thinking too far ahead and it got the better of me. “But look, initially it’s hugely disappointing and it was difficult enough to leave it sink in and digest. But my outlook now is probably a lot more positive than it was a month or six weeks ago in terms of when I saw the knee when I came out of surgery. When you’re struggling to get up to go to the toilet, you’re saying, ‘how am I ever going to get back up on it on a Championship field?’ “But I’ve seen remarkable improvement in the last 10 days, two weeks, so that just tells me that it’s going to get there and it’s going to take time.” It’s now seven weeks since surgeon Ray Moran took the scalpel to the 30-year-old’s knee, but you won’t see him in a Kerry jersey this season, he insists. Not even if they reach September. “With the damage I’ve done to the knee, it’s unrealistic to expect massive results over a short period of time.” Cooper, with the help of crutches, took his seat in Austin Stack Park last Sunday only to see Kerry humbled by Cork. “If there is any time to get a kick in the ass or anything like that, last Sunday was the time to get it,” he says. He doesn’t believe the prospect of having to beat Dublin in Croke Park a second time this season will put off Cork in this Sunday’s Division 1 semi-final. “I don’t think Cork will fear them, I think they will look forward to coming up to Dublin, they’ve beaten them already in the league. All I can say is I’ve seen Cork at first hand last weekend, and I thought they were quite good, possibly against a below-par Kerry. But I think they’ll match up well against Dublin at the weekend and they’ll have a big say in the Championship.” John Fogarty GAA Correspondent Irish Examiner It's right that he should stay away from the panel for this year. Concentrate on recovery, plus it's a distraction that players don't need....and we all should move on from it now. Not to sound insensitive but Colm's season is done as he said himself, so it's best to move on, concentrate on what we have available not those that we don't have available. |
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fitz
Fanatical Member
Red sky at night get off my land
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Post by fitz on Apr 10, 2014 19:10:02 GMT
I'd agree, but only if that is Colm's wish. Maybe he's like to be asked. If he wanted to be involved I'd have him definitely. He would have some really insightful 'in-game' views, specifically regarding the forward play and knowing so many of the defenders our guys will face this championship his views in some instances might be unique and of very practical value
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Post by Mickmack on Apr 10, 2014 19:55:45 GMT
By Arthur Sullivan
I've seen remarkable improvement in the last 10 days, two weeks. And that just tells me that it's going to get there and it's going to take its time.
Colm Cooper
Colm Cooper says he has accepted that he will play no more football in 2014, but he is very hopeful over his long-term recovery from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered whilst playing for his club Dr Crokes on February 15.
"My outlook now is a lot more positive than it probably was a month or six weeks ago, in terms of when I saw the knee when it came out of surgery," the Kerry legend said yesterday, at an event for adidas at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin.
"When you're struggling to get up to go to the toilet you're saying 'how am I ever going to get back on a championship field?' But I've seen remarkable improvement in the last 10 days, two weeks. And that just tells me that it's going to get there and it's going to take its time."
Cooper admits there was initial devastation and some "grieving" to be done after he suffered the season-ending injury, but now he has a much more positive outlook regarding his recovery from the injury, which could take up to 12 months or more.
"I suppose the initial mental thing was quite difficult. But in the last few weeks I've become a lot more positive on the outlook and where it's going to go and where it's going to end and hopefully it will end with me getting back on the field with a Kerry jersey," he said.
That outlook requires acceptance, and although he admits it was a very hard thing to come to terms with at first, he knows in his heart his year is over, despite it having barely started.
"I'm kind of resigned to the fact right now that I won't be playing in 2014," he said. "Even for the Crokes, if they got to a county final or a Munster final, realistically it's not going to happen (for me) so it's going to be 2015 whenever it happens - what stage that's going to be, the start of the league, I don't really know at the moment.
"Hopefully the healing is going to be good and it's going to be quicker but from talking with people and the experts you just can't push this injury. I don't want to come back in a scenario where I'm 90 per cent right, I have to be fully right. That's where it's at, at the moment. That may change in a couple of months' time if things are progressing nicely but to be fair, I'm nearly 100 per cent resigned that I won't be playing in 2014."
Colm Cooper
Vital Numbers
266 - Championship points for Kerry
76 - Championship games for Kerry
20 - Championship goals for Kerry
8 - All Stars
4 - All-Ireland medals
0 - Serious injuries before this
Cooper suffered the injury in the All-Ireland club semi-final against Castlebar Mitchels almost two months ago. The moment itself remains a vivid one for the Killarney native (30). Just 16 minutes had been played in the game, and the Dr Crokes forward has just made a characteristic surge for goal, leaving Castlebar defenders Eoghan O'Reilly, Tom Cunniffe and Patrick Durcan trailing in his wake.
"I came inside and I actually thought for half a second that there was a goal chance on but a couple of Castlebar lads came across and when I realised that it wasn't on I kind of had a shot (he scored a point) and kicked with my right leg and I suppose with the Castlebar defender (Cunniffe) coming across trying to make a block, he made contact on my knee, there was impact. Then when I landed then as well, it was that my knee went forward and then came back.
"I kind of knew deep down that there was damage done. I was clinging onto hope when I walked off the field thinking that it might not be as bad but deep down I knew that I had done quite a bit of damage to it. There was a lot of pain and it was something that I had never come across before so I knew the damage was done."
That was on the Saturday. On the Monday, Darran O'Sullivan drove him up to the Santry Sports Clinic in Dublin, and Kerry manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice, who was in Dublin that day, was with Cooper when consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ray Moran delivered the news that he had ruptured his cruciate and fractured his knee.
"There wasn't a whole pile of words," admits Cooper. "Just the initial disappointment and devastation really. You just get over it. It's not nice news to hear and I'm sure it's not nice for Ray Moran to give it out to people either."
The severity of the injury became apparent to Cooper quickly, as Moran explained that the knee fracture had compounded the problem. "That takes a little bit of time to digest as well," said Cooper. "and there's probably a little bit of grievance time there that has to be given."
But once the pain, both physical and mental, had eased a little, Cooper pressed on. The injury happened on Saturday, he got the news on Monday and by the following Friday he had been operated on, a 'fixation' procedure on the fracture.
That was almost seven weeks ago. Since then, it has been a case of slow recovery and rest. The knee fracture has required cautiousness; Cooper still hasn't begun his full rehabilitation programme. He is meeting Ray Moran again next week, and will continue to review things with him every few weeks. He hopes to be back swimming and cycling before too long, but he is reluctant to put any timeframes down - he simply doesn't know how long this will all take.
Cooper says that with the increased free time he now has, he has been researching recovery times for cruciate ligament injuries on the internet. The variation is stark - anything from as little as five months to as much as 15 months, depending on the severity of the injury. Yet he knows his injury is at the worse end of the scale.
With each day and week comes a new step in Cooper's recovery. Last weekend, he attended his first match since suffering the injury - Kerry's 2-18 to 1-11 defeat to Cork in the Allianz Football League. While Cooper might have expected a better result for his first day back at a ground, he was moved by the warm reception he received in Tralee, when his attendance prompted a round of applause from the crowd.
"I was kind of coming up the stand in my crutches and there was a small bit of applause," he said. "There's massive goodwill out there and people just want to see you back and see you back to full health. That was nice. It shows that people care as well and particularly in Kerry where there's a lot of loyalty as well."
Cooper's absence for Kerry this summer, when it was confirmed, prompted a swooning despair across GAA circles in the Kingdom, and a general sense of disappointment from the GAA public in general. One consequence of Cooper's injury is that his remarkable run of championship games for Kerry - he has played in every single one (76) since making his championship debut for them against Limerick on May 12, 2002 - will come to an end.
"I was always very proud of that record that I played in every championship game for Kerry because it's unique for GAA players all over the country. At some stage of your career you could be injured, suspended, sick, where you will miss games, but it was a kind of record and I thought 'Wouldn't it be fantastic if I could do it for my whole career?' Maybe I was thinking too far ahead and it got the better of me."
One of the really remarkable things about Cooper is how he has avoided serious injury for so long. Despite being the most-feared attacker in Ireland for over a decade, operating against the toughest of defenders, Cooper escaped with barely a scratch for nearly 12 years. Minor groin surgery in 2003, which only caused him to miss a couple of league games, and minor patchwork on an eye injury, which didn't even cause him to miss a game, are the only injuries he can think of from his long career.
The fact that the eight-time All Star and four-time All-Ireland winner has had such an unblemished run means that he thinks he might emerge from his spell on the sidelines with a greater appreciation of the run he has enjoyed, and what other inter-county players have had to go through.
"Maybe this year out might give me a greater appreciation of how lucky I am to play at inter-county level, getting a chance to play with Kerry, and in Croke Park and playing in the big games," he said. "Maybe something will click in the summer in the back of my mind to understand what a privileged position I'm in."
When it is put to him that the injury could actually end up prolonging his career, by virtue of the year out from the game and the renewed appetite that might result in, Cooper excitedly agrees.
"If I come back and the body is good again and the knee is good and everything else stays healthy...what age was Johnny Doyle, 36?" he asked of the recently retired Kildare legend. "I don't quite know if I'll make 36 but if I play on, I've always said if I'm enjoying it and if I'm fit and healthy, I'll play as long as I can."
Cooper isn't sure yet what exactly the summer will hold for him, now that he knows he won't be playing football. He says he will follow the championship very closely, but he isn't sure yet if he will play any part for Kerry on the sidelines.
"It's a difficult one for me," he said. "All I know is playing. All I wanted to do is be out on the field and be involved in the big games so I think being part in a different capacity, whatever it might be - carrying the water bottles, just being around the dressing room - I don't know. Like Éamonn (Fitzmaurice) said, I haven't had a chat with him about that. Possibly the time will come when I will have a chat and see.
"Right now I'd find it difficult to see that because I'm a player and that's all I want to do really. I'm convinced that I'm going to be playing again next year. I want to come back and play so I just want to be really focused on that. Perhaps it's a little bit selfish on my part. Perhaps being away from it for a little while will re-energise me, refocus me and give me that little bit of hunger again that you can go on.
"Look, that's just a conversation myself and Éamonn will have. Who knows where it will end up? I could be involved in some capacity, or I could be away from the squad and working on my rehab. We'll see when the time comes."
For now, Cooper is just glad to be back on the road. It's a long one that stretches before him, but he is convinced he will get there in the end.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Apr 11, 2014 18:48:31 GMT
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seamo
Fanatical Member
Posts: 2,016
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Post by seamo on Aug 20, 2014 20:52:08 GMT
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Post by Seoirse Ui Duic on Aug 20, 2014 21:26:22 GMT
I noticed Colm being on the sidelines at the Galway game and sitting in the stand later. As a lot of our squad are very young so his experience means that he can inform them on what to expect and how to deal with it.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 20, 2014 23:01:39 GMT
great man management by Eamonn re Colm.
I remember reading an article by a Kerry player not so long ago who said that no one contacted him when he was out injured. When he recuperated, he made himself available again and that was that.
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Post by Seoirse Ui Duic on Aug 20, 2014 23:48:06 GMT
great man management by Eamonn re Colm. I remember reading an article by a Kerry player not so long ago who said that no one contacted him when he was out injured. When he recuperated, he made himself available again and that was that. I read that same article and I was very disappointed by it. If a player is injured it is not just a physical thing but also a mental thing. If you train and think football most of the time and that suddenly falls away you fall into a black hole that is very hard to get out of. Keeping an injured player as part of the team though not an active part is benefiting the recovery but also assures players that they will be taken care of if they get injured. I remember reading keys to the Kingdom and being surprised how often Jack mentions calling players and meeting them outside training. He must have had a fulltime job next to the normal job looking after players. I don't know Eamon personally but he strikes me as a real people's man who cares for his players. |
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Post by jackiel on Aug 21, 2014 8:28:46 GMT
Colm was in the stats box with Diarmuid & Mikey for the first half of the Galway match, he sat in the subs bench for the second half.I'd imagine just having him around is a motivational force for the younger players.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Aug 22, 2014 0:32:41 GMT
And great sportsmanship that Enda Kenny was there for Colm's family, that's what true respect is about, I know he was in Killarney anyway but it was nice and I'd say well appreciated by us all. I tried to communicate a mother's input to the making of a footballer in The Kerry Ingredient, only for Maureen to personify it beyond imagination. RIP to a hero we never met and sure how could things have been any different with Gooch? I hope I'm not over doing it. |
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Post by Die Hard Kerry Fan on Aug 25, 2014 9:25:34 GMT
I saw Gooch kicking balls out from beside the goal yesterday in the warm up before the match. All coming off his left boot of course. He went walking out at one stage and put his right foot on a ball and slipped awkwardly, I nearly had a heart attack on the hill!
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Post by bomberliston on Aug 27, 2014 13:01:40 GMT
I saw Gooch kicking balls out from beside the goal yesterday in the warm up before the match. All coming off his left boot of course. He went walking out at one stage and put his right foot on a ball and slipped awkwardly, I nearly had a heart attack on the hill! I saw that slip too! My heart jumped into my mouth! |
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on Aug 27, 2014 13:09:48 GMT
I saw Gooch kicking balls out from beside the goal yesterday in the warm up before the match. All coming off his left boot of course. He went walking out at one stage and put his right foot on a ball and slipped awkwardly, I nearly had a heart attack on the hill! I saw that slip too! My heart jumped into my mouth! Good to hear that the Gooch is getting back. Bomber, in that famous picture of you there, were you in hospital for wrist-strain or wha? |
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Post by bomberliston on Sept 4, 2014 12:13:31 GMT
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Post by A.N. Other on Sept 4, 2014 23:19:40 GMT
Born in 1955? That would make him 19/20 when he played minor in 1975 though right? Is the date wrong or is it the wrong baby? ha |
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Sept 5, 2014 5:37:16 GMT
Born in 1955? That would make him 19/20 when he played minor in 1975 though right? Is the date wrong or is it the wrong baby? ha Well spotted! The internet says he was born in '57. |
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Post by stevieq on Sept 5, 2014 20:13:40 GMT
I heard he played in goals for the minors later that year. Any truth to that? |
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