Galway man Johnny Coen has all the characteristics of a corner back.
The Loughrea man is tight, he’s fiery and he’s as quick as the clappers of hell.
He may look fairly small, he may be fairly slight, but he throws his weight around well to make sure anybody he’s marking will have a tough day at the office.
Coen began Galway’s 2009 All-Ireland minor winning campaign as a corner forward, but manager Mattie Kenny recognised and appreciated the abilities of a defender that Coen displayed, and corner back was where he ended the year.
The east Galway man graduated through the ranks of Galway hurling, from under-21 to senior, and a corner back was where he remained.
Current Galway manager Micheal Donoghue felt that Coen’s attributes could be put to better use in midfield, where he’d be more involved in the game, where he could play make, where he could distribute to the Galway forwards.
The 26-year-old is loving life out the field.
Coen, speaking to Independent.ie, revealed his comfort in his new role as a midfielder, where he has flourished for the men in maroon.
“You would be delighted to be around the middle of the field. You get the chance to do a bit more hurling, open up the lads and express yourself a little bit more. It can be very restricting at corner-back,”
That’s all many corner backs want, is to “express” themselves a little bit more. Show these comments to your manager, corner backs, and emphasise the success that Coen has had out the field.
Coen is expected to be named in the midfield position for Galway for their All-Ireland semi-final clash with Tipperary, but he is versatile – just like many of our corner backs.
“We beat Kilkenny in that All-Ireland. It was funny because I actually started out corner-forward and then the next day went to wing-forward. The next day I went midfield so he was pushing me back and back. Eventually, I got to corner-back.”
Eventully, he got back to midfield, and so can you. (Only if you want to)
