Colm Cooper reveals the devastating attacking instinct that made him a GAA great

Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

The old Irish phrase is more used to remember those who have passed away, but it could equally be applied to describe Kerry GAA great Colm Cooper. The 33-year-old is entering his 14th season as footballer in the green and gold this summer, but the enthusiasm, and the skill, is no less urgent than it was in the summer of 2002. Back then, the Killarney teenager almost capped a dream-like debut season for Kerry by lifting an All-Ireland crown, but instead, suffered an agonising one-point loss to Armagh. Since then he has lit up countless summers, won four-All-Ireland titles, suffered a career-threatening knee injury, and is still hungry for more. The Kerry ace has been one of the most dangerous inside forwards in the game for the last decade, and as he nears the end of his career, he has explained why he was often double and treble marked in games. By his own admission in an interview in today's Examiner, Cooper feels his goal in the 2004 All-Ireland football final against Mayo was the best of his career. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZDZA1huRsI The Dr Crokes man feels that what made him different to some of his peers was when the opportunity fell to him to go for a goal, or take the easy option of the point, as he could have in that final; he always aimed for the green flag.

"I'd have been an inside forward for most of my career, and maybe coming up with Dr Crokes would have influenced me too - with Crokes we'd always be looking to see if we can penetrate for a goal, and 90% of the time it might not be on, but you'd still encourage lads to go for it."

Cooper, who endured a frustrating 2015 as Kerry came up short to Dublin in the All-Ireland final, has scored several memorable goals in Croke Park, and loves the sensation of hitting the net, not just for its impact on the scoreboard. He also loved how it deflated the opposition, hurt them mentally more than any brace of points from his left, or right foot could.

"Something I've always noticed was that points help you catch up, or level a game, but a goal is a dagger to a team. Demoralising, deflating, all of that. If you can get three goals in a game, you'll rarely lose. "I'd play a lot on instinct, to look for someone on their own, or inside near goal, then you’re looking for goal.

Cooper is Kerry's record point scorer in the championship, and even he admits that team-mates often got frustrated with his desire to try and create goal chances.

"But plenty of times I've had team-mates blow me out of it as well for not taking a point, yeah."

We can safely say it was a defender who bawled Cooper out of it for his impudence at trying to create goal opportunities. Stick to what you know best, and watch a master at play.