Cooper calls for overhaul of fixtures calendar

COLM COOPER hascalled for an overhaul ofthe championship fixtures calendar as Kerry and Cork are made to wait four weeks for their Munster SFC final on July 3.

What’s more, the Kerry captain has predicted more provincial winners will lose their subsequent All-Ireland quarter-finals because of the delay between provincial deciders and the last eight games.

Providing they claim victory in Fitzgerald Stadium, the winners of the much-anticipated provincial showdown will have to wait at least another four weeks before their All-Ireland quarter-final.

As Munster champions last year, Cooper and his Kerry team-mates were caught cold by Down in their knockout game in Croke Park. Cooper says the fact all four provincial winners in last year’s championship lost their All-Ireland quarter-finals demonstrates the lack of any gain there is in claiming Munster, Leinster, Ulster or Connacht honours.

“That fact in itself backs up the point is there an advantage to winning a Munster championship or a provincial championship,” remarked Cooper, who also pointed out the last three All-Ireland champions have won the Sam Maguire Cup via the backdoor.

“We definitely want to win the Munster championship in three weeks’ time but maybe it’s something that the GAA have to look at in providing another advantage to winning it.

“At the moment, the four weeks break isn’t an advantage for winning a Munster championship. Where they go on that I don’t know but it’s definitely something that should be explored in my opinion.”

Similar to the sentiments expressed by Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) chairman Seamus Woods in the Irish Examiner last month, Cooper believes the championship goes on too long and can be condensed.

“I love Munster final day, I love Kerry-Cork, I love Kerry-Limerick, whatever it is as long as Kerry are there. I just think the season is very drawn out. The first game was Donegal and Antrim in May and I think there are too many gaps between games. Antrim lost and they don’t play until June 25! It doesn’t make sense. It’s nearly two months that they have to wait for another game which is crazy.

“Down are a similar situation after losing to Armagh. When you have a situation where you play your first round of the championship and don’t play again for two months it’s ludicrous.”

As Cooper readily admits, it’s in the qualifiers where teams find their form. Kerry were no stranger to that in 2009 when, after losing a Munster semi-final replay to Cork, they worked out their problems in the backdoor before going onto win the ultimate prize. Prior to losing to Down as Munster champions last year, they were almost upended by Monaghan in 2007 after being made to wait five weeks before their All-Ireland quarter-final. He anticipates more provincial champions will be cursing the gap between their finals and the knockout stages by season’s end. “We were sitting idle for the four weeks and probably should have been caught and were lucky to get through,” recalled Cooper. “That’s been the same for many teams over the last couple of years and I’ve no doubt we’ll see it again this year.”

Cooper suggests players aren’t getting enough games to justify the amount of training they are undertaking.

“Every player likes playing games. Someone was telling me recently that it works out at 10 or 12 training sessions for every championship match. Compare it to other sports and it seems off-the-wall.”

For the reasons outlined, Cooper and his team-mates are treating the July 3 game in isolation and are eager to ensure they maintain what he describes as a “very proud record for Kerry people” of not having lost to Cork in the Munster SFC in Killarney since 1995. As a Killarney native never mind the team captain, that feeling is even more acute but he dismisses the suggestion Kerry and Cork are tired of playing one another so much.

“We’re not sick of each other. I just think we know so much about each other now at this stage, that’s why the games are so ding-dong. It’s very hard to steal an inch in games. Like, it seems that at least two times every year you’re sitting down to assess Cork. And they’re the same with us. They must be saying, ‘Jesus, how can I talk any more about Gooch?’ It’s the same (for Kerry), you know, ‘what’ll we do about Cork?’ “They know where we’re strong, we know where they’re strong so there’s very little give there. It’s healthy, intense rivalry and both teams will be relishing it again.”