Five years ago, Joe Brolly told us that he has revised his opinion of Colm Cooper.
In a column for the Derry Journal - one which caused plenty of debate, including on The Sunday Game - Brolly questioned whether Cooper was great as he had once thought. The Derryman still believed Cooper was peerless when it came to the skills of the game - an opinion he still holds today.
It was Cooper's leadership skills that Brolly doubted, and still does. Cooper had never done it when the heat was on argued Brolly, suggesting that the Killarney man had not shown up against Tyrone in the 2005 and 2008 All-Ireland finals. He also highlighted a performance against Crossmaglen in the 2012 All-Ireland club semi-final to make his point.
An American tourist would never have believed it if you’d told him The Gooch was one of the greats. If however you’d told him he was a choker, he would have agreed, since that is what Colm did against Cross.
The suggestion that Cooper was as choker was a red cape to bullish Kerry fans.
That article was penned just days before Kerry played Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter-final, a game which they would lose by two points to the eventual champions.
In his Sunday Independent column today, where he reiterated his opinion regarding Cooper, Brolly tells of his walk, with his son, to that game between Kerry and Donegal.
As Brolly senior and junior reached Croke Park, they were faced with the Kerry minor team.
Then the players spotted me. Someone roared "It's Joe Brolly" and a chant to started to swell from nowhere, like those impromptu chants that break out on the terraces at Parkhead or Anfield. "Gooch, Gooch, Gooch, Gooch, Gooch, Gooch," they chorused, creating a wall of sound like a thousand angry baboons. Throngs of Kerry supporters all around joined in. As the intensity increased, Rory was pulling my arm frantically. "Let's go daddy, please, let's get out of here." "Stand your ground son," I said to him.
I blew kisses to them. Then I signalled them to quieten down, waving them to silence with two hands. "Lads," I shouted, "I'll see you all back here at this exact spot at half-past five. We'll reflect on how Gooch got on today." As we ploughed through them, the chant resumed, becoming almost deafening. "Gooch, Gooch, Gooch, Gooch, Gooch, Gooch."
Kerry beaten - Cooper did score four points that day, two from play - Brolly returned to the site of the earlier encounter.
At half-past five, I went back and stood in the exact same spot. No-one showed up. "They're not singing anymore," I sang quietly to Rory, who burst out laughing.
