Cooper: I could see the Kingdom were red hot

One of the small minority of Kerry people not surprised at their county’s victory over Cork in the Munster football final, on Sunday, was injured star Colm Cooper.

But then he knew what the general public did not know — the encouraging form being shown in training behind closed gates at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.

The Gooch, currently recovering from cruciate ligament surgery and a knee fracture, is still unable to take part in training with the Kerry squad but regularly attends the sessions where he also does his rehab work.

“I had noticed about a week before the match that they were very tuned in,’’ he disclosed. ‘’I wasn’t surprised that they won, or by the performance, but was surprised at the extent of the winning margin.’’

Equally, he was taken aback by the poor Cork showing on the day.

“I can’t remember a Cork team that was so far off the pace, especially in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. I can’t put my finger on what went wrong for Cork, but I think they will improve and a few positional changes will help.’’

Interviewed at Killarney Racecourse in advance of the annual, four-day July holiday meeting next week, Cooper did not agree that Kerry may have blown their cover too early in the All-Ireland campaign.

‘’They have come in under the radar, but they’re now up there as genuine contenders. Dublin have been out on their own as the top team, but I think Kerry have shown they can put it up to the best. The All-Ireland now is the target and I see Kerry as realistic contenders.’’

On the question of Cork having dual players, his view is that it is very difficult to combine both hurling and football at the highest level, with players going from one training session to another and more demands on them.

“You don’t have that many dual players at inter-county level any more, as most opt to concentrate on one game only. Take Conal Kearney, of Dublin, as an example, he chose hurling for instance.’’

Though recovering well from injuries sustained last February while playing with Dr Crokes, in the All-Ireland Club Championship semi-final, Cooper has ruled out for the rest of this year and aims to be back around March 2015. He’s attending the Santry Sports Clinic; is jogging, swimming and cycling and has no problem in kicking a few balls at his leisure.

“I’m very happy with it (recovery progress). It’s a question of having patience and giving it time,’’ said Cooper who will relax at the races.