Dublin defender Jonny Cooper has said that his side will park their National League campaign ahead of their drive for a fifth consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football championship.
The Dubs failed to make the Division 1 final for the first time since 2012 after winning just four of seven league games. Cooper, who first broke into the Jacks squad in 2012, has been accustomed to contesting the league for almost his entire intercounty career but he insists that the defending All-Ireland champions will not be put out by their relatively poor league campaign.
“You get what you deserve,” Cooper said at the launch of AIG’s new #EffortIsEqual campaign.
“Some of the losses were by very small margins and you reap what you sow I guess. Does it give us a different mindset coming into the championship? Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe individually it does and I think as a team we always park the league, we always have our club break, we always reset for the championship. It’s no different this year.
“Maybe some players feel they need to push on, or that they didn’t play as well or didn’t play enough but I think it breathes into the same value that we collectively have together but certainly the league has given us a good learning and referencing point but that’s all they are.”
Dublin will be buoyed by the return of Rory O’Carroll into the squad for the championship and Cooper said that he’s earned his placed back in the squad on the back of his performances with Kilmacud Crokes.
“Yeah he’s back in and he has equal opportunity just like the rest of us. I’ve played with him and he went off and did his own thing for a couple of years and all power to him.
“He’s come back in now off the back of his club performances and I guess he’ll push as hard as any one of us. He brings a lot of strength and experience but just like all of us you have to be there and take the opportunity.”
O’Carroll primarily played as a full-back during his previous run with Dublin but Cooper is unsure as to exactly how he’ll fit in if he is to be reintegrated back into the setup.
“We have the fluidity to play in different positions based on the opposition we’re playing but does he change things, I’m not too sure. I’ve only seen him very briefly over the period of a couple of weeks so I guess what he’ll bring to the table is a lot of different skills, attributes, experience and the ability to mark as he has done for years. I see it as being no different but we haven’t been in that position yet to fully explore the dynamic works with him our without him.”
Dublin stars Niamh Collins and Jonny Cooper were in Parnell Park today to launch AIG’s new #EffortIsEqual campaign. #EffortIsEqual recognises that the effort, commitment and dedication amongst male and female players is equal.
