Jonny Cooper photographed at Dublin's All-Ireland Final media event at Parnell Park.
By John Harrington
Self-doubt is not a character weakness you would readily associate with Jonny Cooper.
The combative Dublin defender is the very embodiment of self-assurance in the way he goes about his business on a football pitch.
Off it, he comes across as no less confident or secure in himself.
You’ll appreciate that all the more if you check out the YouTube video of the presentation he gave at Zeminar last year entitled ‘How to Achieve Balance in Life’.
It’s surprising then to hear that he suffered from a crisis of confidence early in his playing career when he failed to make the grade with the Dublin senior footballers when Pat Gilroy was manager.
Cooper had captained the All-Ireland winning Dublin U-21 team in 2010 and won a Sigerson Cup with DCU the same year, but he wasn’t deemed good enough for Dublin’s All-Ireland winning senior panel in 2011.
And then when he did make his senior debut for Dublin in the 2012 Allianz League against Armagh it wasn’t the breakthrough he hoped for as he quickly slipped down the pecking order again.
For a period of time, the fear that he simply wasn’t good enough was a very real one.
“Yeah, there was definitely self-doubt,” said Cooper. “That's probably more of a personal thing with my own human make-up in terms of self-doubt, never mind the football.
“The football wasn't going great in terms of being picked. I was playing okay for DCU, I was playing with a decent team, so that's probably why I felt in my head that I probably deserved a shot.
“Maybe I was on a platform below where they were, but I certainly wasn't far off where they were. Yeah, it does creep in. And I guess it's only when you get that opportunity and that run of games that it starts to get pushed away.
“The big thing of not getting picked is not being asked, that's the big thing.
“If you make a mistake, that's fine, but not getting picked is essentially you're being told you're not good enough.
“It does play with you, yeah, I guess, but it has worked well for me in the end.”
Jonny Cooper celebrates after captaining Dublin to victory over Donegal in the 2010 All-Ireland U-21 Final.
When Jim Gavin was appointed Dublin manager in 2013 he quickly made Cooper a fixture in his team and the Na Fianna man quickly justified that faith in him.
He’s won four All-Irelands and five National Leagues on the away to establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the game, but the fact he wasn’t an overnight success is something he still carries with him.
He’s managed to turn it into a positive by using it as a whetstone to keep his edge for the game razor-sharp.
“You know what it's like not to be on the pitch so when you are there you appreciate the opportunity,” said Cooper.
“Somewhere in the subsconsicous it's probably sitting there saying 'don't pull up short here'.
“It definintely does add to the mix and the drive as to how the last couple of years have been successful. I suppose the challenge is to consistently do that.
“For me, it's probably not just that I want to be faster, stronger or a better tackler.
“There's a group of technical aspects, but then there's also a couple of lads coming up behind you that are trying to take the food off your table. That's a driver.
“So between the technical and the competition. And then the third thing, it's a cliche, but you're just trying to make the most of the opportunity that you have.
“And being a little bit older you're realising that it's not and it never was about me, it's about the people who helped me get there. The club and the different aspects of trying to be the best possible version of me, not only for me but also for the people that may be looking up to me around Na Fianna in terms of that.
“So I suppose there are a couple of different drivers and they have changed over the past couple of years in particular. It's now more about making the most of the platform that I have moreso than doing it for me.”
Jonny Cooper in action against Galway's Damien Comer in this year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
One of the drivers early in his career was probably the fairly common line of analysis trotted out at the time that Dublin’s full-back line was a potential weak-point of their team.
If he had some doubters early on, he doesn’t have too many anymore.
Cooper is about as an effective a man-marker as they come, and he admits he relishes the adversarial nature of the position.
It can also be a high-wire act at times with no safety net below you when you’re the last defender back and you’re marking the opposition’s best forward, but more often than not Cooper comes out on top in his individual duels.
In his position you’re only ever one slip or mistimed tackle away from disaster and he’s had a few over the years, but he’s mentally tough enough to roll with those punches.
“Yeah, definitely, I’ve had loads of mistakes, mistimed tackles and slips and invariably the opponents score points against you the whole time.
“So I guess earlier on in my career, certainly Paddy Brophy springs to mind a number of years ago, I slipped, goal and that was it. In terms of that play, and trying to move on as quick as possible.
“Definitely as I moved through my career, you’re able to transition and adjust yourself, I found it a challenge at the start, but it’s not much so now I guess, just try to turn it around and try park that play, and then try to move on.
“For example, the Comer penalty (in the All-Ireland semi-final v Galway). That is a challenge but it’s something I enjoy and prepare as best I can.”
Jonny Cooper and his Dublin team-mates pictured before this year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Galway.
He’s also gotten better at dealing with the slow build-up of tension in the weeks and days before an All-Ireland Final, but it’s still a case of the sooner the ball is thrown in the better.
“From my experience, the happiest place you can be from now until then is when the ball is thrown in and it's just kind of free then,” he said.
“Everything is gone, it's just cut loose and whatever happens then is kind of what's in front of you.
“Maybe it's concentration or focus or excitement in that it's just, 'Give me a shot at this thing in front of me’.”
He had to wait longer than he might have liked to get that shot in the first place, which is maybe one of the reasons he plays with the edge that he does.
If he ever feels like it has dulled then he’ll know his race is run, but that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“I think when it does change I won't be there and rightly so won't be there,” said Cooper
“I guess I see myself as a glass half-empty in that I've personally loads to improve on and want to improve and learn a lot more.
“When I don't have that drive and ambition and that influence over other people then it will be time to go.
“But certainly for the moment I'm probably in the middle of the most enjoyable part and the most exciting part.
“It's probably something I'd like to keep taking advantage of if I can.”
